An Afghan migrant has been found guilty of making a threat to kill Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in a viral TikTok video.
Fayaz Khan, 26, posted a video in October last year which concluded with the words: “I’m coming to England. I’m going to pop, pop, pop.”
Farage had posted his own video on YouTube, entitled “the journey of an illegal migrant”, which highlighted Khan and referenced “young males of fighting age coming into our country about whom we know very little”.
In his response video, Khan said: “Englishman Nigel, don’t talk shit about me.
“You not know me. I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. You not know me.
“Don’t talk about me more. Delete the video.
“I’m coming to England. I’m going to pop, pop, pop.”
A jury at Southwark crown court deliberated for two days before finding Khan guilty of making a threat to kill, by a majority of 10 to two.
The judge in the case, Mrs Justice Steyn, adjourned Khan’s sentencing hearing until next week.
The defendant, who has a prominent tattoo on his face of an AK-47 machine gun, denied the charge but did not give evidence in his own defence.
Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said the threat to kill was “not some off-the-cuff comment” and the video was “sinister and menacing”.
He told jurors: “Mr Khan has refused to give evidence in this case. The prosecution suggest this is because there is no sensible defence he could give to that video.”
Mr Ratliff said Khan was “a dangerous man with an interest in firearms”.
The prosecutor added: “If you’ve got an AK-47 tattooed on your arm and your face, it’s because you love AK-47s and you want the world to know that.”
In his closing speech, defence barrister Charles Royle said Khan was “remonstrating in his own idiosyncratic, moronic, comedic, eye-catching, attention-seeking way” rather than making a threat to kill in the TikTok video.
He added to jurors that the trial was “not about your views on illegal immigration, nor about your views on face tattoos, Brexit or Reform”.
Farage gave evidence himself, telling the court on Tuesday the video was “pretty chilling”, adding: “Given his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried.”
The Reform UK leader added: “He says he’s coming to England and he’s going to shoot me.”
Jurors were shown a screenshot of a subsequent TikTok post by Khan with the caption “I mean what I say” written on an image of a GB News report about the alleged threat against Mr Farage.
The court was also shown other videos posted on social media by Khan in which he appeared to make “pop, pop, pop” noises and similar hand gestures to those in the TikTok video referencing Mr Farage.
In a police interview on November 1 last year, Khan said: “It was just a video, it was never an intention to threaten him.”
The Afghan national added: “It was never my intention to kill him or anything – this is my character, this is how I act in my videos.
“In every video I make those sounds, I say ‘pop, pop pop’.”
Detective Constable Liam Taylor told the court that Khan had “live-streamed” his journey across the English Channel from France and was arrested on October 31 after arriving in the UK on a small boat.
Following the verdict, Mr Farage warned in a video on X that "people like" Khan are crossing the English Channel "almost every day", who he claimed are posing a risk to "this country and its people".
Mr Farage said: "The most frightening thing about this particular young Afghan coming into our country is we only found all these things out because somebody sent me some of his videos, and I chose to expose it.
"Otherwise, he'd be walking around maybe in your neighbourhood right now if I hadn't put that video out."
Referring to Khan's TikTok username "madapasa", Mr Farage continued: "And think about this, whilst there may be some genuine people that cross the Channel, almost every day, there are people like 'madapasa' that cross the English Channel and will do this country and its people, particularly its girls and women, very, very great harm.
"And yet, neither the Conservative nor Labour governments have been prepared to lift a finger.
"At least there is now a debate about ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights), yet again another debate that we started, but I don't believe this Government has got the guts to do anything.
"None of these people that cross the Channel should ever be free to walk the streets of our country. They should be detained and deported, and if this case doesn't prove that to you, then frankly, I don't know what will."
