Overview

• Pete North, 47, was detained at about 9:30pm at his Easingwold home and taken to a station near Harrogate, where he was interviewed before being released on bail.
• The August post showed a Palestinian flag with text attacking Palestine, Hamas and Islam, and the arresting officer referenced concerns about stirring up racial hatred.
• Footage of the arrest captures an officer saying a hate-crime team had reviewed the post and that Section 19 regarding written material likely to stir up racial hatred applied.
• North says he did not intend to incite racial hatred, argues Islam is not a race, and his video of the arrest has attracted hundreds of thousands of views online.
• The Free Speech Union has taken up his case and criticised the force, as the incident feeds a wider national dispute over policing of provocative online speech following other high-profile cases.