If the U.K. has taught us anything over the past couple of years, it's how much we should value the First Amendment. In America, you don't get a visit from the police for sharing a meme on Facebook that expresses "anti-migrant sentiment." We should also appreciate the Second Amendment. There are a lot of states where open carry is perfectly legal.
I wrote a lot about knife crime in London. Mayor Sadiq Khan was sending police into charity shops to confiscate cutlery and having them confiscate sharp gardening tools that had been left out. The city set up knife disposal bins so that honest citizens could safely rid themselves of any sharp objects they might have had. And as I recently reported, police handcuffed a man who'd been stabbed by a Sikh carrying a ceremonial 8-inch blade. Harry Nowack bled to death as police took a statement from the man who claimed he'd been racially assaulted (he hadn't); in the meantime, his mother hid the knife.
But what about baseball bats? Can you walk into a sports store in the U.K., buy a baseball bat, and carry it home without getting pepper-sprayed by a cop? Apparently not, going by this viral video.
The more I watch this. The more angrier it’s making me.
— Dean (@DeanoRestore) August 9, 2026
This man has simply bought a baseball bat from a shop still in its packaging. He is asking the police officer “what have I done?”
Even the public are telling the officer it’s still in the packaging. The police officer…
The post continues:
… ignores them and then goes to spray him with pepper spray. This man needs to file an assault charge on this officer and he needs to be sacked immediately.
@GMPCityCentre I want answers and this officer suspended immediately.
If this was an immigrant they would be treated differently. This is why no one trusts the UK police anymore and has lost faith in them.
And then more police officers show up on motorcycles.
🇬🇧‼️🚨 SHORTCUT: Brit arrested a minute after buying a baseball bat and walking out of the store!
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 9, 2026
The interesting thing is that dozens of people are screaming at the police:
“It’s in its packaging, he just bought it. He has a receipt for it.”
Dozens of people are shouting at… pic.twitter.com/xYNJvjHI4n
The post continues:
… the police, which is a good sign, but the cops still arrest him.
In this case, pure technically the Police can only arrest you if they think you will use the bat as a weapon. In this case, obviously wrong he just came out of store.
If this arrest is legal, buying a baseball bat in the UK is practically impossible. Cops can just arrest you after you pay at the cashier.
I did find it heartening that the public was not afraid to stand up to the officer.
There was no need to spray him, he wasn't agressive more confused I'd say ... even the gent with the cross claims the lad also had the receipt on him... absurd considering the entire public was siding with the lad
— Kezzie-Eliza (@KezzieElizveu3) August 9, 2026
You’ll get locked up for a brand new bat still in the plastic, but rock a religious sword or knife and it’s all good. Law’s got its favourites. We are living in two tier Britain. 🇬🇧
— Britain Realist (@BritainRealist) August 9, 2026
The UK is so busted, a Manny Pacquiao lookalike cop, some guy carrying around a large wooden cross, the whole police force showing up on scooters to handcuff a white guy who bought a bat.. it’s the twilight zone over there now.
— ShadowsFearSun (@ShadowsFearSun) August 10, 2026
If I was that cop I'd be utterly embarrassed by that hug-fest. Plus you can't arrest someone for buying a baseball bat even if you think they "might" commit a crime with it. No crime, no arrest.
— Edmundd (@edmundd15) August 9, 2026
This officer is a Special Constable, who is clearly poorly trained and I would love to screw them over in court and get a nice settlement.
— Will Cromwell (@CromwellWi83458) August 9, 2026
Police officer should have stopped him to speak to him first if he suspected he was going to commit a crime with the bat, not arrest him.
Someone checked with Wikipedia, which says that it's illegal to carry a baseball bat on your person or transport one in your car without a legitimate, verifiable sporting or practical reason, such as going to a baseball field.
Doesn’t matter if he’s just bought it as a bat is still classed as an offensive weapon & is illegal to carry in public unless you can prove you are actually using it for baseball, he should have put it in a bag at least and not been an areshole towards the police pic.twitter.com/UgghkMDCMa
— Phillip Michael Hunt (@PrincePhil_M) August 9, 2026
Damn. You people are sheep to your government wolves. This is exactly why Americans won’t give up guns. Now you can’t even own a hollow aluminum stick without possibly being arrested.
— TheFoxesSay (@TheFoxesSay) August 9, 2026
They're going to ban stores from selling baseball bats, aren't they?
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