Man arrested over threat to 'shoot Nigel Farage in the head'
Police have made an arrest over a threat to shoot and kill Nigel Farage.
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The man was arrested in London yesterday after a post on X that read: “I am going to shoot you in the head if you win.”
The threat comes after Ann Widdecombe was killed in a ‘targeted attack’ at her home.
Mr Farage has repeatedly criticised his lack of formal protection and has described himself as the ‘most attacked politician in the country’.
The former Reform UK MP for Clacton-on-Sea, who stepped down last week, said yesterday that he gets as many as 30 death threats per week.
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Mr Farage had previously told The Telegraph: “This is the first time the police have ever proactively acted on a social media post and I hope they are looking at the other three or four hundred similar posts from this year alone."
Reform UK said it has recorded 1,577 threats against Mr Farage since February, including 597 death threats.
It is understood the man was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of sending a threatening communication. He was interviewed before being released on bail pending further inquiries.
Scotland Yard informed Mr Farage of the man’s arrest this morning.
The suspect arrested by police is understood to have described himself as a terrorist on social media, according to the Daily Mail.
The post in question was made on May 8 and the man was arrested yesterday, six days after the killing of Miss Widdecombe.
Following the arrest, a Met spokesperson: “On Tuesday, 14 July a man in his 20s was arrested by Met officers on suspicion of sending threatening communications to a Member of Parliament.
“The arrest relates to a social media post from earlier this year, which was reported to police on Friday, 8 May. After receiving the report, detectives submitted an application to a social media platform to gain access to the user’s contact information.
“After the relevant information was returned to detectives the man was arrested, with support from local Met officers, at a residential address in south London. After being held in police custody overnight, he has since been bailed pending further enquiries.”