YouTubeA Scottish man who stupidly trained his girlfriend’s dog to perform a Nazi salute has been arrested by Lanarkshire police.
According to The Telegraph, Markus Meechan uploaded the offensive video of the dog, a pug named Buddah, earlier this year and it caused outrage in Scotland’s Jewish community.
The disturbing footage shows the pug raising its paw in imitation of the infamous Nazi salute when it hears the words ‘Sieg Heil’, watching Hitler give a speech and reacting to the phrase ‘gas the jews’.
In the YouTube video, called ‘M8 Yer Dugs A Nazi’, Meecham complains about his girlfriend always saying how cute her dog was.
He explained:
My girlfriend is always ranting and raving about how cute her dog is so I thought I would turn her into the least cute thing you could think of which is a Nazi.
When Meecham first uploaded the video a month ago he denied being racist, insisting he’d only made the video to annoy his girlfriend, and apologised to the Jewish community.
He said:
I am so sorry to the Jewish community for any offence I have caused them. This was never my intention and I apologise.
Meecham has declined any further comment on the video.
A spokeswoman from the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities didn’t see the funny side, however, saying that anti-Semitism is never a joke.
WikimediaShe said:
Anti-Semitism is not something that can in any degree be regarded as a joke. It is a form of racism which needs to be condemned just as we would any other form of racism, just as we would condemn Islamophobia or anti-African racism.
Meechan was arrested on April 28 at his house in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, but he was subsequently released pending further investigations.
Nazi pug: Man arrested after teaching girlfriend's dog to perform Hitler salute as a 'prank' https://t.co/pmuVUKNJCj pic.twitter.com/v3HQqODZ2k
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 9, 2016
Detective Inspector David Cockburn of Lanarkshire CID said:
This clip was shared online and has been viewed almost one million times. I would ask anyone who has had the misfortune to have viewed it to think about the pain and hurt the narrative has caused a minority of people in our community.
The clip is deeply offensive and no reasonable person can possibly find the content acceptable in today’s society.
He finished by saying the arrest should serve as a warning to anyone posting such offensive material online and that such views will not be tolerated.
Not that that’s stopped over a million people from watching the video on YouTube. Honestly, did this moron not think this was in the worst possible taste?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.