Police raid Andrew Tate, MAGA ‘King of Toxic Masculinity,’ in Trafficking Inquiry

Romanian police raided the home of popular pro-Trump online Andrew Tate this month as part of a human trafficking investigation, drawing renewed attention to Tate’s relationships with public figures. at the forefront of the American MAGA movement.

Before the April 11 raid, Tate was best known as a kickboxer and a popular Trump supporter on the far right network. On social media, Tate describes himself as a wealthy cigar player, prompting one admirer to call him the “king of toxic masculinity”.

But Tate’s treatment of women has a bad side. In 2016, he was kicked out of the UK version of Oldest brother through a video of him hitting a woman with a belt. This March, England Daily Mirror The tabloid has described him and his brother Tristan Tate and their Romania-based business using webcam models to trick men into sending the brothers tens of thousands of dollars. In One video On his YouTube channel, Andrew Tate said “40 percent” of the reason he moved to Romania was because Romanian police were less likely to pursue sexual assault allegations.

Tate’s unprofitable activities haven’t stopped him from building links with the stars of the Trumpian right wing. In 2019, Tate chatted around Washington, DC with prominent online Trump activists and conspiracy theorists. He shared a meal with far-right cable news commentator Jack Posobiec and Infowars host Paul Joseph Watkins, and made numerous appearances on Infowars shows.

In Trump’s Washington hotel, Tate posed for pictures with Brexit supporter Nigel Farage, and sat in a group in the Trump hotel lobby with the likes of Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and protest day organizer January 6 future Ali Alexander. Cernovich visited the Tate brothers in Romania later that year, describing them as “friends” in his podcast description.

While Cernovich made a name for himself online by making false human-trafficking claims about a pizzeria in Washington, Tates could soon be charged with actual human trafficking. In a statement provided to The Daily Beast, Romania’s Department of Organized Crime and Terrorism said the raid on Tates’ home was part of an investigation that began after a woman was told was being held at the house against her will. As the investigation continued, it escalated to include “criminals of human trafficking and rape.”

Video from the raid shows officers armed with rifles milling between Tates sports cars, with a neon “TATE” logo on the wall in the background. Another video shows Tate and his brother being pushed into a truck by police before being evicted from their home.

A Romanian newspaper reported that the raid erupted when it was reported that an American woman was being held at Tate’s home. Police found both an American and a Romanian woman in the building during the raid, according to reports. In a statement about the raid to The Daily Beast, a State Department spokesman alluded to a reported kidnapping of an American citizen but declined to comment further.

“We are aware of reports of a US citizen being detained against their will in Romania,” the spokesperson said. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

The Tate brothers did not respond to a request for comment. Tate’s pro-Trump colleagues – Cernovich, Watkins, Posobiec and Alexander – also did not respond to emails from The Daily Beast.

Tate appeared to refer to his arrest in an Instagram photo posted after his arrest, showing him smoking a cigar in a staged interrogation room as fake police officers loomed over him. . Tate added the caption: “Police… I think we can all agree that bitches love to lie.”

The raid on Tates’ mansion isn’t the first time the “manosphere,” the far-right men’s online community to which Tate belongs, has been tied up with serious criminal activity. In December, a prominent manosphere figure took part in a killing spree in Denver, killing five people before being shot dead by a police officer.