Lawyers Argue Tate Brothers Are Too Famous to Flee
Lawyers for Andrew and Tristan Tate say their fame makes them too recognizable to run. In a filing Friday, attorneys for the brothers asked a Miami federal judge to free them on bail as they fight a UK bid to extradite them on charges including rape, assault, and facilitating sexual exploitation, the Guardian reports. The defense team argued their "extraordinary public visibility" makes flight unrealistic, and proposed that the brothers surrender their passports and wear location monitors. Prosecutors previously urged the court to keep them locked up, citing flight risk and community danger.
The extradition process could drag on for months. The UK has until Sept. 16 to file its full extradition request. The Miami US attorney's office is due to respond to the bail request by Monday, with a hearing on their possible release set for Thursday. The Tate brothers, dual US-UK citizens and online influencers, deny any wrongdoing. They were arrested on July 18 after British prosecutors filed new charges, including more rape and trafficking charges and offenses related to "indecent images of a child and extreme pornography," the AP reports.
The brothers' longtime lawyer, Joseph McBride, has claimed the arrests were politically motivated. "The last time England demanded that Americans surrender their liberty, we answered at Lexington. Today we answered with a 41-page motion in federal court," he wrote on X Friday. "The message has not changed in 250 years. The King can kiss my Yankee a--." McBride has argued that the Tates' violent and misogynistic online comments have been taken out of context, the AP reports. Last week, McBride told Vanity Fair that Andrew Tate "was a material participant in ensuring President Trump's victory" and the administration might regret declining to intervene in the case. But he said he's not ruling out intervention "just because Karoline Leavitt gets up there and says Trump's not going to do anything." He added: "Trump changes his mind like he changes his underwear." An independent United Nations human rights expert, meanwhile, praised efforts to prosecute the Tates. "All too often, perpetrators of violence against women exploit delays, fragmented jurisdictional responses and their wealth, power or influential public profile to evade accountability," said Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, per UN News. She stressed that "no one should be above the law, regardless of their status, influence or international reach."
