An Irish comedian, Graham Linehan, arrested in the United Kingdom for a series of social media posts critical of gender ideology activists, says he will be seeking asylum in America, where he believes his views fall under free speech protections that have been abandoned across the pond.

Mr. Linehan, who was arrested last week by five police officers on his arrival at Heathrow airport from America, is looking to move permanently to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he has lived for the past six months. He said he can’t wait to return to “a place where people value freedom of speech.”

“It’s very exciting to land in a new place where you don’t have any of the baggage that I have over here,” Mr Linehan told Britain’s Daily Mail.

Mr. Linehan, a household name in the United Kingdom for creating the eponymous character in the 1990s smash hit “Father Ted” as well as several other hit shows, returned to England last week after six months in America to face accusations by a transgender activist, Sophia Brooks, who accuses Mr. Linehan of encouraging violence through his social media posts.

The case dates to several statements Mr. Linehan posted on social media between October 11 and 27, 2024, in which he called the activist a “domestic terrorist,” a “malignant narcissist,” and a “sissy porn-watching scumbag.” Prosecutors called the posts “relentlessly abusive” and punishable under decades-old laws protecting individuals from online harassment and criminal damage. The activist’s phone was damaged during a confrontation between the two at a conference they were both attending.  

On Thursday, Mr. Linehan appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court at London and pleaded not guilty. He wore a sandwich board outside the courthouse that read, “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports.” 

The trial resumes on October 29. Mr. Linehan says as soon as the case is finished, he’s going to file his asylum petition. 

“All I want to do now is go to the U.S., write comedy and forget about this country,” he told the U.K.’s Sun. “Before long we will have a nation too frightened to say up is down and black is white.”

Before he can depart, however, Mr. Linehan may also face possible charges related to his arrest last week on an unrelated case — three X posts that he wrote while living at Scottsdale — which law enforcement officers say violated England’s strict public speech laws prohibiting people from expressing views that may be found to encourage “real-world harm.” 

Mr. Linehan, who was arrested upon returning to London for his court date, was detained for 16 hours. In detention, his blood pressure spiked and police rushed him to the hospital, where he released an image of himself wearing an identity bracelet and needle port in his arm. The image, along with details of his arrest, made headlines across Britain and America. He was released on bail on the condition that he not post on X. 

The Free Speech Union, which is defending Mr. Linehan, called the Heathrow arrest absurd. 

“What had he done wrong? Threatened to blow up the plane? Plotted to steal the Crown Jewels? Been found with indecent images of children? No. His ‘crime’ was to have posted three tweets taking the Mickey out of trans rights activists. That’s it,” reads a post by the free speech group on a fundraising webpage for Mr. Linehan. 

The union, which is planning to file a claim against the Met Police for wrongful arrest and imprisonment, says he is not yet charged with a crime, but is under investigation. The group was able to get the prohibition on tweeting overturned. Mr. Graham promptly began issuing multiple posts accusing transgender activists of being grifters and criminals and criticizing transgender ideology. 

As a result of his outspokenness, Mr. Linehan, a BAFTA-winning writer, has been ostracized by Britain’s mainstream entertainment industry. He says he was out of work for several years. A musical version of “Father Ted” was canceled when he refused to have his name removed from the credits. He and his ex-wife, writer Helen Serafinowicz, divorced in 2020.

In America, however, Mr. Linehan is teaming up with a conservative activist and former “Saturday Night Live” star, Rob Schneider, and a Northern Irish playwright and journalist, Andrew Doyle. Their production company, Friendly Fire, is filming a new comedy called “Tenure.” Mr. Linehan has also written a book, “Tough Crowd: How I Made and Lost a Career in Comedy.”

Mr. Schneider disclosed last week that Mr. Linehan has hired a conservative lawyer and well-known vaccine mandate opponent, Aaron Siri, to approach President Trump over the asylum request. 

“This morning, our attorney at Friendly Fire Studio, @AaroSiriSG, will ask the Trump Administration to give Asylum to Graham Linehan as a UNITED KINGDOM FREE SPEECH REFUGEE.”

Mr. Siri told the Daily Mail that he was “confident” that Mr. Linehan “will be able to flee the persecution” he is experiencing in Britain.

“We have a robust immigration practice at the firm. We are confident he will be able to immigrate to the United States and flee the persecution and abject infringement of his fundamental right to free speech,” Mr. Siri said, calling Britain’s free speech rules more severe than those in Brazil, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, and on “the fast track” to Tunisia and Iran.

Mr. Trump has not weighed in publicly on the expected asylum request. 

As the free speech issue roils Britain, sources close to London’s Metropolitan police chief, Sir Mark Rowley, tell the Telegraph that he believes it’s time for authorities to administer some common sense in policing speech. Police reported and investigated more than 13,200 non-crime hate incidents between June 2023 and June 2024, or more than 30 per day.

The chief’s shift reportedly follows the uproar around Mr. Linehan’s arrest and other recent high-profile cases where investigations were unlikely to yield evidence of an intent for “real-world harm” or other non-hate crime incidents.