A man from Yorkshire was arrested in the UK after posting a photo of himself legally holding a firearm while on holiday in the United States, sparking concerns about policing overreach and freedom of expression.
Jon Richelieu-Booth shared the image on LinkedIn in August during a trip to Florida, where he posed with a legally owned gun on private land. He said he had full permission from the firearm’s owner and stressed that the post contained no threatening language, instead describing his work and what he had done that day while abroad.
Despite this, a police officer later visited his home in Yorkshire to warn him about what he posted online after someone raised concerns about the photo. Richelieu-Booth told The Yorkshire Post that he explained the gun was lawfully handled in the US, but police returned at around 10pm on 24 August and arrested him.
According to Richelieu-Booth, the bail document cited an allegation of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, along with a separate claim of stalking. He said he attempted to show officers geolocation data proving the photo was taken in Florida, but was told it was “not needed”.
He spent the night in a cell before being questioned about the gun photo and another social media image of a house — a photo he said was taken by someone else and of a location he had “never been to”. The police then released him on bail until the end of October, during which officers visited him multiple times and interviewed his neighbours.
Both the stalking allegation and the claim of illegal firearm possession were later dropped. However, Richelieu-Booth was then charged with a public order offence in relation to a different social media post, with the possibility of facing up to six months in prison.
He was due to appear at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, but the case was dropped because, according to The Yorkshire Post, there was “not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.
Richelieu-Booth said he was shocked by what he described as the “Orwellian” behaviour of West Yorkshire Police. He said: “I have not been able to sleep, I’ve lived in fear of a knock at my door for the last three months. I haven’t spoken to my neighbours for four months. It has damaged my ability to run my business. It was a massive overreach by the police.
“I thought 1984 was a book, not an instruction manual.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said the arrest followed a formal complaint. They said: “Police received a complaint of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, relating partly to social media posts, several of which included pictures of a male posing with a variety of firearms which the complainant took to be a threat.”
The spokesperson confirmed that “police investigated and charged a man with a public order offence but the case was then discontinued by the CPS.”
