Note: Some readers might be offended by language
A 19-year-old from Liverpool was reportedly found guilty of sending a “grossly offensive message” when she posted rap lyrics on her Instagram account. Prosecutors reportedly increased the teenager’s sentence “as it was a hate crime.”
The Liverpool Echo reported Chelsea Russell posted the song lyrics as a tribute to a 13-year-old who was hit by a car. The lyrics by Snap Dogg (not to be confused with Snoop Dogg) that got Russell charged with sending a grossly offensive message were “kill a snitch n**** and rob a rich n****.”
According to the BBC, Russell’s post was anonymously sent to the Merseyside Police. It was then handed over the hate crime unit, which is led by police constable Dominique Walker. As the Liverpool Echo noted, Walker’s brother was famously the victim of a hate crime.
Walker reportedly said, “As a black woman I found the words offensive and upsetting. The words are offensive to both black and white people.”
Walker deemed the word so offensive, she allegedly told Russell’s defense not to reference the word in court.
Russell’s defense argued that the word is used by rappers all the time and that the word is not the full word ending in -er, but rather ending in -a.
Walker claimed that regardless of context and spelling, the word is always offensive.
District Judge Jack McGarva reportedly told the court, “There is no place in civil society for language like that. Everyone with an Instagram account could view this content. The lyrics also encourage killing and robbing, so are grossly offensive.”
The Liverpool Echo said Russell was found guilty of “sending a grossly offensive message by means of a public electronic communications network.”
According to reports by the Liverpool Echo and the BBC, Russell’s sentence involves eight weeks of community service, eight weeks of curfew, wearing an ankle monitor, and paying 500 pounds ($701) toward in costs and a 85 pounds ($119) victim surcharge.
As the BBC reported, the original fine was increased to give Russell community order as prosecutors determined “it was a hate crime.”
