Rabat – Florida has launched a criminal investigation into media personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate, mere days after their arrival to the country, as Florida attorney general, James Uthmeier, warned that he is prepared to use the full force of the law to examine the allegations previously put forward against the Tates.
Uthmeier condemned the brothers for publicly boasting about their actions that allegedly comprise soliciting, trafficking and preying on women around the world. “Many of the victims are coming forward, some of them minors. People can spin or defend however they want, but in Florida, this type of behaviour is viewed as atrocious. We’re not going to accept it,” the attorney general stated on Tuesday, March 4.
The brothers arrived on United States soil from Romania on Thursday, March 27, after the travel ban that has been placed against them was lifted, according to their spokesperson and Romanian prosecutors. Namely, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said that they have approved to lift travel restrictions on the Tates without divulging the identity of the person or entity that made the request.
Holders of British-American citizenships, were first arrested in December 2022 along with two other individuals in Romania on charges of rape, human trafficking and forming an organized crime group. The DIICOT updated the charges against the brothers later in 2023 from “human trafficking” to “human trafficking in continued form” upon identifying seven victims.
According to DIICOT, the brothers remain under judicial supervision despite being allowed to leave Romania, and could still be summoned by judicial authorities that they would have to respond in order to avoid legal punishment with “higher custodial measure.”
Tates’ spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, declared that a Bucharest court also ruled in favor of the brother’s January 6 appeal to return some of the seized assets from their arrest, including six luxury cars, land, properties, company shares as well as all previously frozen bank accounts.
Rumors of Trump’s involvement in the release of the controversial influencers have been swarming around since February 17, when The Financial Times reported that the US president’s envoys have raised the case with Romania’s foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu at a security conference in Munich, earlier in the same month.
The Tate brothers originally moved from the United Kingdom, where they’re also facing criminal charges of the same nature, to Romania in 2017 due to their belief that they’re less likely to face rape charges in a country where Andrew Tate claims “corruption is accessible for everybody,” and the police ask women reporting rapes for more concrete evidence and even CCTV proof.
Andrew’s questionable religious affiliation
The Tates initially came to fame through Andrew’s boxing career and his participation in British reality TV Big Brother, but he rose in popularity among young men by spreading outrageous misogynist rhetoric online, sometimes under the guise of humour.
Andrew also found an unforeseen audience among young Muslim men, especially after he reportedly converted to Islam. This is an act that some see as an attempt to polish his tarnished reputation and find new prospects after the Western audiences have seemingly had enough of him.
In late July 2024 three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a dance studio in Southport, Merseyside. Local authorities later revealed that the suspect was a 17 year-old boy from Cardiff, but didn’t reveal his identity. Far-right groups jumped on the opportunity to villainize Muslims – specifically immigrants – which ultimately led to widespread pogroms that targeted minorities across the country.
Andrew Tate, who is half black, quickly jumped in defense of conservative values in the UK, even incredulously comparing the alt-right rioters to Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza. “The soul of the Western man is so broken that when the invaders slaughter your daughters, you do absolutely f****** nothing,” he said.
