(StraightShooterNews.com) – Wayne O’Rourke received a three-year prison sentence in the United Kingdom for inflammatory social media posts.
O’Rourke, who had over 90,000 followers on X, posted about a tragic incident where three young girls were murdered in Southport on July 29 and praised the arson of a car in Sunderland.
In the aftermath of his posts, O’Rourke admitted in court to publishing material online intended to incite racial hatred from July 28 to August 8.
During his sentencing at Lincoln Crown Court, Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight condemned O’Rourke’s actions, stating, “You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it.”
She also described him as a “keyboard warrior” who fanned the flames of hatred.
The court reviewed his posts, including one from July 29, which claimed that the children were killed during a terrorist attack by a Muslim.
The actual event was a knife attack that left three children dead, five others critically injured and two adults wounded.
Identified by Merseyside Police, the victims were nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.
The attack occurred during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event at a community center.
Emergency services quickly responded to the incident, where a 17-year-old male suspect was arrested and his weapon was seized.
Due to U.K. laws protecting minors, further details about the suspect remain undisclosed.
The reaction in Southport was intense, as residents were upset over how authorities downplayed the severity of the stabbings.
Following his arrest for stirring up racial hatred, O’Rourke attempted to mobilize his followers with a call to action on X, urging, “People of Southport where the f*** are you, get out on the street.”
His attorney, Lucia Harrington, argued that O’Rourke had not intended to foster such harmful content and that he was swept up in a media frenzy.
She also added that O’Rourke himself expressed a desire to correct his misunderstandings.
However, Judge Knight rejected O’Rourke’s defense that he was using ‘dark humor’ in his posts.
She directly questioned the man in court, “Where is the humor I ask you, Mr. O’Rourke?”
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