Social media influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania on suspicion of rape, sex trafficking and organized crime following a raid at his luxury home, according to reports. Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan were detained for 24 hours as part of the criminal investigation prosecutors said, following raids of his property and other properties close to Bucharest.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were staying at the luxury villa when police in tactical gear descended there. Video shows the officers armed with battery rams and guns sweeping through the dark villa before arresting and escorting Tate and Tristan into a car.
Influencer or Sex Trafficker?
According to the Daily Mail, the brothers allegedly held two young ladies inside the villa against their will in April and subjected them to "physical violence and mental coercion." One of the women had citizenship from the United States, while the other was from Romania.
The Tates, according to police, are accused of creating an organized crime gang and "sexually exploiting" women by " forcing them to perform pornographic demonstrations pornographic for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms."
According to Libertatea, police had questioned the brothers for five hours on April 11 but releasing them after that. In addition to stacks of cash, officers also found a number of pistols, a knuckle duster, a hatchet, and swords of various lengths during Thursday's raid.
Soon after the news emerged, a video of Tate being escorted into a car while being surrounded by two officers went viral.
The nation's organized crime and terrorism team will now question self-described misogynist Andrew Tate and his brother as part of the investigation into alleged sex crimes and human trafficking charges.
The timing of the raids is believed to have been influenced by his online altercation with Greta Thunberg; a day earlier, he had mocked the climate activist while posing next to a Romanian pizza box, perhaps giving away his whereabouts to law enforcement.
"We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can," a spokesperson for Tate told DailyMail.com.
Strange Coincidence
Tete and Thunberg had a bitter spart on Twitter on Wednesday. The controversial influencer asked Thunberg for her address in order to continue boasting about his 33 cars' significant contribution to pollution after tagging her in a post showcasing them.
"Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld–kenergy@getalife.com," Thunberg hit back.
Tate initially replied with a brief "How dare you?!" before revising a two-minute clip of him mocking the usage of pronouns and labeling Thunberg a "slave of the matrix."
In an effort to further insult Thunberg, Tate requests two pizza boxes from someone off-screen while warning them not to discard the packaging. The boxes' sides were printed in Romanian, which may have alerted authorities to his presence.
Emory Andrew Tate III, a native of Chicago, has been dubbed "the king of toxic masculinity" for his anti-women internet rants that have made him famous and won him millions of followers.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, initially gained attention when he made an appearance on Big Brother in 2016. However, he was fired from the show after a video surfaced online that purported to show him punching a woman with a belt; a film he insisted was altered.
