Charges have been dropped against Londoner Matthew Doyle, who tweeted about confronting a Muslim woman in the aftermath of the deadly Brussels terror attacks earlier this week.
It took just one day from public order charges being filed by Metropolitan Police until the Crown Prosecution Service announced it did not agree with the original charges, nor did the Metropolitan Police have the power to bring such charges.
The tweet at the center of this storm, pictured below, went viral almost immediately and then attracted the attention of law enforcement.
Matthew P. Doyle/Twitter
The Metropolitan Police released the following statement: “Following discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service, Mr Doyle is no longer charged with the offence and will not be appearing at court. Police may not make charging decisions on offences under Section 19 of the Public Order Act.”
The crime Doyle had been charged with carries a maximum jail term of seven years.
Doyle’s broader history of tweets about Islam attracted attention in the wake of his confronting a seemingly random Muslim woman on the street.
https://twitter.com/HashashinTag/status/712601194334695424
Though he did say his tweet was poorly thought out and come close to apologizing, he took a defiant turn against the international spotlight shortly thereafter.
https://twitter.com/MatthewDoyle31/status/712615148410773505
H/T The Guardian | Photo via Matthew P Doyle/Twitter | Remix by Jason Reed