No, the pizza box response to Greta Thunberg didn’t lead to the arrest of Andrew Tate – Liberation

Social media star, British kickboxer Andrew Tate has drawn ridicule from the global web after being shortlisted on Twitter by famed environmentalist Greta Thunberg. Believing he was being clever by provoking the Swedish activist into sending him his voluminous car list, the man sampled a reply from the 19-year-old Swede, who suggested he write to her at smalldickenergy@getalife.com (which would provide in French: “energiedepetitebite@achettoiunevie. com”). A response met with millions of likes, internet users were only too happy to see the young woman beat the chuckle, already known for her misogynistic escapades. The latter also got him kicked out of the social network Twitter (before the new moderation policy imposed by Elon Musk allowed him to return).

But the case doesn’t stop there, since Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested this Thursday by the Romanian police in a human trafficking case. Many media like Daily mailRTL or Free lunch claiming that this arrest was made possible thanks to the stupidity of Andrew Tate.

In response to Greta Thunberg’s reply, Andrew Tate posted a video in which a pizza box appears, covered with writing in Romanian. This lead would allow a Romanian court to identify that the two brothers were on Romanian soil and would lead to their arrest. Conclusion of a (too) beautiful story that has been widely shared on social networks by Internet users who enjoy this spin.

contacted by Check News, Romanian prosecutor Bolla Ramona, who is in charge of the investigation, but has officially denied that Andrew Tate’s pizza box led to his arrest: “This is very funny information but it is not true. We executed a search warrant yesterday but the decision was made before the message [avec la boîte à pizza]then cleared by the judge.” Prosecutors pointed out that five searches were carried out on Thursday and that the police had carried them out convinced that the two brothers [étaient] in Romania before acting. We use all kinds of information, such as that in public sources, but that’s not the only thing that’s used.”

The investigation started in April 2022

In a press release published Thursday, December 29, Romania’s Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation Directorate confirmed the arrest and 24-hour detention of four people, including two British nationals, at a key property in Romania. Those arrested were suspected of having exiled women, possessing “sexually exploited […] by forcing them to engage in pornographic acts with the intent to produce and disseminate this material via social media platforms”, as well as rape. This police operation follows an investigation that began in April 2022. At that time, two women (including an American citizen) were found kidnapped in the Tate brothers’ villa, after reports from ex-boyfriends. The Tate brothers had not been arrested at that time.

A press release published by the Romanian authorities was accompanied by a video exposing the police operation and its blurry images allowed it to identify one of Tate’s brothers. Greta Thunberg’s name never appears in this press release.

While many Anglo-Saxon newspapers highlighted the role of Greta Thunberg’s communications in this police operation, the Romanian press never mentioned it. “Sources said this search was carried out today because the prosecutor wanted to make sure the brothers were in the country so they could participate in the search,” just report observer, Antenna television news bulletin 1.

“Good moment”

On social media, the pizza box capture demonstration has been shared more than 90,000 times. The internet user behind these messages said he relied on articles in Romanian from the media Gandul, whose translation appears. But this news site never mentions the Swedish activist. He only noted that since April, “Anti-Mafia prosecutors have gathered all the evidence gathered from the Tate brothers’ villa and video chat studio to prove that the allegations made by their victims during the trial were true.” and “Sources close to the investigation told bald that as soon as the computer skills were completed, the authorities were waiting for the right moment to arrest the Tate brothers, most of whom were overseas.”.

Even before Andrew Tate posted a video showing a pizza box in Romanian, the gruff kickboxer had shared the video on Twitter with the caption “Romania”, Sunday, December 25. On December 26, he recorded himself at the airport. In the following days, he shared a video showing himself on the airport tarmac, ready to board a private jet with a clearly identifiable tail number.

Andrew Tate’s personal Romanian address is also really easy to find: just type Andrew Tate into Google Maps to find his house in Bucharest’s Pipera district.