Linda Bellos arrested **Title edited by MNHQ to make clear that she was in fact 'interviewed under caution'**

[Terfragette69]

So it would appear that Linda has been arrested and interviewed for saying she would protect herself if the tra's attacked.... What the actual fuck?? This is getting ridiculous we need to act!

Mermaids have been into the Yorkshire police forces to do workshops. What a coincidence!

Yorkshire again, eh...

When I get to a meeting you can bet I will be calling the police. I will say I feel threatened and scared by the masked men, as a DV survivor I find loud chanting men extremely scary. I will be having a panic attack, an ambulance may be called.........

Mermaids have been into the Yorkshire police forces to do workshops. What a coincidence!

There must be some serious campaigning going on behind the scenes. I can't see the police pulling in a person for questioning because a random member of the public says that they said something a bit hurtful...

Fucking hell.

So is the ‘notable transsexual’, mentioned above, MY, then? Hence no news of the meeting with Magic Granddad?

Yorkshire again, eh...

Yorkshire's a big place, with several counties and police forces. What's North Yorkshire police done before to warrant that comment? Genuine question, btw.

So if I say
If someone tried to mug me, id try to defend myself

Am I potentially committing a hate crime against anyone, or are my words hate speech?

So is the ‘notable transsexual’, mentioned above, MY, then? Hence no news of the meeting with Magic Granddad?

My assumption but I have no actual knowledge.

AFAIK the police who interviewed Posie were West Yorkshire. Completely different. This one will have been because the event was held in York.

Yorkshire's a big place, with several counties and police forces. What's North Yorkshire police done before to warrant that comment? Genuine question, btw.

It's because Mermaids are based in Leeds and have done a lot of 'educating' of local police forces. Posie was questioned by West Yorks police (incurring a fair bit of tax payer expense) as part of a ridiculous witch hunt.

I think questions should be asked (if Mermaids are involved with the Bellos situation also) as to why a charity CEO is allowed to use the police to conduct personal vendettas when there is no evidence any crime has been committed.

That video has been widely posted online. The TRAs have been going on about it and going after Linda for months. It could have been anyone.

Hang on, so let's get this straight. The comments Linda made about defending herself were made just after Maria Maclachlan being punched in the face by Tara Wolf. So it should be very obvious to anyone who doesn't have an agenda here that when she refers to 'those bastards' she is not talking about trans people in general, but the ilk of Tara Wolf who might come up and punch her in the face. Surely the police have seen her full comments, not just those posted on YouTube (which have very much been taken out of context). How can the police even 'interview under caution' on that?

The fact that those comments were made after the speakers corner incident also make Heather Peto's advice to Wolf about using Linda Bellos comments as a form of defence in Wolf's Court case pretty laughable!

I'm really not a tinfoil hat type, but it does feel like something weird is going on here.

But there has to be a crime before it can be perceived as a hate crime. Whether or not a crime is viewed to have the aggravated factor of hate is in the perception of the victim; not whether or not it is a crime.

They've made up some bullshit that it can be a "hate incident" if there is no crime. Which doubtlessly exacerbates the "malicious communications"

I'm aware that WYP is a separate force. Coincidental that it's next to NYP though, innit, and very much mermaids home turf.

And iirc NYP were the ones promoting mermaids on Twitter (wish I had that so I could check, but I'll try to google it now...)

Do you remember a certain TRA saying he wouldn't debate with Linda Bellos during a radio interview because he was scared of her violent ways? He also brought it up on Twitter and in the Independent.

Leeds is West Yorkshire Police Force though, not North Yorkshire?
Different county.
It'd be like saying London, eh? to somewhere like Luton just because both are down South if that's the case.

Oh look...
twitter.com/nyp_lgbt/status/970446022261510146?s=21

The Yorkshire stuff:

• Mermaids is based in Leeds.
• MESMAC (sexual health and survivors of sexual abuse charity) have been in the news recently for things that happened in Leeds. The Yorkshire branch were the ones who drafted the procedures stating that staff can have sex with clients. Paedophile Heathcliff Bowen also worked at MESMAC Leeds until his conviction recently.
• West Yorkshire Police give funds to MESMAC.
• West Yorkshire Police received two reports from Leeds Council about MESMAC. WYP did nothing.
• Trans Leeds (support group for transgender people) and Action for Trans Health (yes, that lot) use MESMAC offices in Leeds for meetings.
• Yorkshire Ambulance Service were the ones who invited Karen Jones (transgender killer and sex offender) to educate staff.
• Susie Green of Mermaids contacted WYP about comments made online by Posie, and WYP immediately leap into action. This despite not responding to complaints of wrongdoing at MESMAC.
• Two former interns at Mumsnet who publicly accused Mumsnet users of transphobia. Were students in Leeds.
• Now North Yorkshire Police are investigating Linda Bellos.

Andrew Gilligan, Times journalist, wrote about MESMAC and Mermaids.

I'm really not a tinfoil hat type, but it does feel like something weird is going on here.

Same here. Very weird indeed.

Maybe it was this clip: vimeo.com/247740942 from 8th of November.

Looks like someone is doing a hatchet job/selectively editing a lot of freely available footage and presenting clips totally out of content. Look at the title even "Linda Bellos threatens violence against trans women (NEW EDIT WITH SUBTITLES)"... I'm pretty sure she was talking about the male activists that shut down the original venue.

Anyway, I'm so annoyed with this as all it means is that women are no longer going to upload any meetings to the internet... meaning many of us who live in rural areas and/or are housebound can't see the discussions. Was so happy to see many meetings discussing woman's rights in the UK live-streamed recently and watched them with my mam (who thinks I'm just being a bit silly worrying about self-id).

I am in Yorkshire.
Yes, I wrote a thread following an incredibly weird job interview I conducted with a trans woman who wore an incredibly unsuitable outfit for the interview.

I was contacted by the police and questioned but it was agreed that I had done nothing wrong.
It was terrifying at the time as I have my own business etc, I deleted my MN account and asked them to delete my entire posting history.

It was weird.

Leeds is West Yorkshire Police Force though, not North Yorkshire?
Different county.It'd be like saying London, eh? to somewhere like Luton just because both are down South if that's the case.

Yes they are different counties but they are actually fairly close together geographically. Harrogate for example is in NYorks but is a small commute to Leeds.

I hope diet - being house bound most of the time (and rather contentious about such things) - that they carry on streaming regardless, and stick two fingers up at the men trying to silence them

I am in total agreement

Don't forget that Teela Sanders is on the Sociology faculty at Leeds Uni.

They have an ongoing 'trial' prostitution decriminalisation zone in Leeds.

I hope diet - being house bound most of the time (and rather contentious about such things) - that they carry on streaming regardless, and stick two fingers up at the men trying to silence them

me too