If you’ve been following the story that Chelsea and Matalidas star Sam Kerr has been charged with the alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer in London, and scouring the internet to figure out what she may have said, we finally have an answer.
Kerr, 30, reportedly became involved in a dispute about a taxi fare in Twickenham after a night out in London, and allegedly ended her evening by calling a cop at the scene a “stupid white bastard.” Kerr appeared in court via video link this week and pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. Apparently, this entire thing went down with everyone keeping a straight face.
In order for Kerr to be found guilty, the officer in question will have to prove that Kerr used “insulting, threatening, or abusive words” to an officer that caused him “alarm or distress,” which is quite an eye-rolling requirement, given that Sam Kerr is 5’6 and weighs less than 150 lbs. I suppose the officer can go into court and argue that Kerr really, really, really hurt his feelings and caused him “distress,” but that seems even more embarrassing than being called a “stupid white bastard” by an international football star. It reminds me of the summer of 2020, when cops in the US were dead set on accusing fast food workers everywhere of putting things in their food.
I’m not advocating for running around hurling abuse at police officers, but the idea that cops are so delicate and special that free speech goes out the window when in their presence is ridiculous, and while England doesn’t have the same First Amendment protections we have here in the US, the UK is party to the Human Rights Act, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, even when it upsets or offends others. All that aside, I would imagine the Crown, like most prosecutors in large metro areas, has better ways to spend the public’s time and money than taking down a footy star who yelled at a cop. (I once had a client call a judge “nothing but a bitch in a black dress” in open court. Know what happened? Nothing, because the judge didn’t have skin made of tissue paper.)
Then there’s the fact that a (presumably white) police officer was upset that someone called him “white,” and claimed some kind of racial upset. Alarming and distressing indeed, especially as a recent study found that the Metropolitan police have been found to be “institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic.” Taking the race aspect out of it, being called a “stupid bastard” is borderline hilarious, and I am confident that most cops have been called much worse. I know most women on the internet have been called a lot worse.
Meanwhile, Kerr is set to go to trial on the charge in February of 2025, but I’d bet this thing goes away long before then. According to The Guardian, filings by Kerr’s league team indicate that they plan to accuse the Crown of abuse of process, and a hearing on that issue is set for late April.
As for her team at Chelsea, manager Emma Hayes (who will soon take over at the helm for the USWNT) told the media, “Sam has our full support, she knows that. It’s a difficult time for her. Of course, I can’t comment, you know that. I can say that I know she’s pleaded not guilty and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize anything for Sam by speaking about it.”
