A recent Twitter clash has sent the internet into a spiral.
On Dec. 27, Andrew Tate, a divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer, tagged 19-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg in a tweet where he boated about having 33 cars.
"My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My two Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions," reads his post.
The next day Thunberg responded by providing a fictional email, telling Tate, "Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at [email protected]"
That same day, on Dec. 28, Tate replied with a video where he is seen smoking at a table and is handed two pizza boxes halfway through the video.
The day following this social media exchange, Tate, a British-U.S. citizen who previously was banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech, was arrested and detained for 24 hours along with his brother in the Ilfov area north of Bucharest, Romania.
Romania's anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said in a statement late Thursday (Dec. 29) that the four suspects in the case, which include two British citizens and two Romanians, were arrested on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking, and rape.
Photographs published by Romanian media outlets appeared to show Tate being led away in handcuffs by masked law enforcement officers.
DIICOT said the British citizens recruited women who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion,” sexually exploited by group members, and forced to perform pornographic acts intended to reap “important financial benefits.” The statement didn't name the Tate brothers.
Though the timing of the arrest has led the internet to believe Tate's recent internet clash with Thunberg resulted in his arrest, claiming that an address on the pizza boxes confirmed Tate's whereabouts, DIICOT says that is not the case.
Vancouverites react to Greta Thunberg and Andrew Tate
The recent events have sent the world into frenzy with many social media users talking about it.
Thunberg's latest tweet added to the internet craziness. "This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes," she says.
Many Vancouver locals appear to be impressed by Thunberg in the Twitter exchange.
Others are reveling at the sight of Tate's recent Wikipedia page update.
Some, however, are poking fun at Tate following the news of his arrest.
With files from The Associated Press.
