- Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, were arrested in Romania on Thursday.
- They were detained in connection with an investigation into a trafficking ring, Reuters reported.
A number of influencers have rushed to defend Andrew Tate, the self-styled guru and internet personality known for misogynistic content, after he was arrested in Romania Thursday along with his brother as part of a human trafficking investigation.
News of his arrest followed a high-profile Twitter feud with 19-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg, leading it to draw even more attention on the platform. Tweets about the news have received millions of views, and terms relating to Tate have been trending.
Streamer Adin Ross, who has supported Tate in the past, wrote to his 1.8 million Twitter followers on Thursday, "Joe Biden please go ahead and pardon Andrew tate." The tweet drew derision in the comments, although some users with thousands of followers also commented in agreement with Ross' sentiment.
—adin (@adinross) December 29, 2022
Niko Kenn De Balinthazy, better known as Sneako, who was banned from YouTube earlier this year, went live on the alternative video platform Rumble on Thursday with a stream titled "FREE ANDREW AND TRISTAN TATE." He opened the stream, which has amassed over 225,000 views, by telling viewers to spam "free top G" and "free Andrew Tate" in the comments.
The YouTuber and streamer Asmongold also sparked backlash for suggesting, with no evidence, that "the government" was trying to frame Tate.
After the arrests, the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) posted a press release that said the case involved four unnamed individuals — two British citizens and two Romanians — accused of running a criminal group.
According to Reuters, prosecutors said, "The four suspects appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing, and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost."
In the days before the arrest, Tate fell into a Twitter feud with Thunberg after he taunted her with a tweet asking for her email address so he could send information about his car emissions.
Thunberg's response — "email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com" — went viral, rapidly becoming one of the most-liked tweets of all time with over 3.6 million likes and 257 million views.
In Tate's reply to Thunberg's putdown, a box from a Romanian pizza chain could be seen, which led many to speculate that the pizza box was what led Romanian authorities to confirm that he was in the country and arrest him, although the viral theory has not been verified.
Tate's only tweet since the arrest read, "the Matrix sent their agents," which has been interpreted as referring to the authorities.
DIICOT did not respond to Insider's request for comment.