A man has been charged with malicious communications by police investigating Facebook messages sent to an MP.
Craig Wallace, 23, also known as Muhammad Mujahid Islam, was arrested at his home in north London on Saturday in connection with messages sent last Thursday.
The Metropolitan police have not named the MP to whom the messages were sent, saying only that he or she does not represent a London constituency.
Two Labour MPs, Simon Danczuk and Neil Coyle, have reported receiving threats following last week’s Commons vote in favour of bombing Islamic State targets in Syria.
Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale, said he had reported a Facebook message to police and also received more than 100 phone calls from people complaining about his decision to vote for airstrikes; some of which were threatening.
According to the BBC, he accused the Labour leadership of promoting conditions in which some people felt emboldened to threaten MPs. “The leadership hasn’t got a grip on the situation, they are effectively encouraging it and it is creating a real divide within the party and, when it gets to the stage where members of parliament’s lives are being threatened, I think it is frankly unacceptable,” he said.
Coyle, who said he received the threat on Twitter, is the MP for the south London constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. The tweet read: “u voted for airstrikes in syria , if i see u round ends”, along with three images of knives.
Police were stationed outside his constituency office and the MP later said he received an apology by email.
Wallace allegedly sent the malicious message last Thursday, the day after MPs voted to authorise the airstrikes. He is due to appear at Hendon magistrates court on Monday.
