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A British consultant says he lived through a dystopian nightmare after being arrested for posting pictures of himself holding guns during a trip to the United States.
Jon Richelieu-Booth, owner and director of Phoenix Evolution Consulting, told FOX News Digital The problem began after he visited friends in Florida over July 4 to celebrate the holiday and his 50th birthday. During the visit, he said he was invited to shoot a gun for the first time.
“They were shooting, and they gave me the opportunity to – as a Brit who had never dealt with guns – carry a gun,” he said.
After returning home to the UK, he posted a series of photos from his trip to LinkedIn. A day or two after sharing the posts, the police showed up at his house to tell him that someone had filed a complaint.
Jon Richelieu-Booth poses with the US flag while visiting family friends in Florida on July 4. (Jon Richelieu-booth)
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They warned him to be careful what he posted online. About 10 days later, said Richelieu-Booth, the police returned, forced their way at 10:30 pm and arrested him.
He was told that the arrests came from pictures of guns and different postal authorities said they were caused by “stopping the lines and harassment.” He was interrogated and arrested the night before he was released.
About seven weeks later, he said he was arrested again for allegedly breaching bail, which he said was based on a false complaint. The complaints were tied to a dispute with a former client, Richelieu-Booth said.
“I can get an agreement from this business to bring jobs to the state, and those jobs have never been two years after two years,” he said. He explained that the business partner had taken a picture outside the man’s house when he was serving the final notice, saying that he said the law because the picture was taken in a public place.
“This arrest is based on two different media reports,” he said. “One was a picture of me with a gun, you can tell I’m nervous. It’s the first time I’ve held it and you can see how I hold it.
UK IT Consultant Jon Richelieu-Booth starts with guns while on holiday in Florida, July 2025. (Jon Richelieu-booth / Richard Wilson)
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“I used a picture of my business partner taking his place as a header picture on linkedIn with the intention that he would look at it again, why did this guy post that?
“There was never any geolocation or evidence that I was at that address, yet I was arrested there,” he added.
After his release, he said he faces a charge of public order for the third post from August, which the authorities say can cause “harassment, fear, alarm and distress.” He said those charges, along with earlier allegations, were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Richelieu-Booth said the experience was very humbling, both professionally and personally.
Consultant Jon Richelieu-Booth says free speech is a threat to the United Kingdom. (AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesth)
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“I did my LinkedIn well, which meant I lost my LinkedIn premium account, which I used to get clients,” he said. “I lost the power to explode groups called the hashtag guy who ran to support other contractors. I lost all the people. I was hidden from everyone.”
He thinks he should take legal action against West Yorkshire Police.
“Free speech in the UK? That’s not it,” he said. “It’s not. People get banned for tweets, for memes. It’s embarrassing. It’s George Orwell, it’s 1984. ‘ That wasn’t a textbook.”
Richelieu-Booth said she no longer felt safe in the United Kingdom and had been seriously considering moving to the United States.
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“I lost my parents in 2023 in a car accident,” he said. “One bad day, my whole family was gone. My American adoptive family has been very welcoming, and it’s made me think a lot about America…. The first amendment, and I don’t feel safe in the UK.”
“If I move to America and if that is God’s plan for me, I will accept that.
His story received international attention after the Yorkshire Post first reported it.
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Elon Musk also weighed in on X, writing, “that’s why we have the first and second amendments in America.”
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said Richelieu-Booth was charged with public order following a complaint about the joint post before it went down.
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“Police received a complaint of harassment involving significant alarm or suppression, related to material posted on social media, including images of a man armed with various firearms that the complainant threatened,” said police on Fox News Digital. “The police investigated and charged the man with a community order offence, but the case was dropped by CPS.”
FOX News Digital has reached out to the Crown Prosecution Service for comment.
