Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told a court he feared a migrant would come to England and shoot him after allegedly threatening him in a TikTok video.
Fayaz Khan, 26, an Afghan who moved to Stockholm, Sweden, in 2019, is charged with making a threat to kill Mr Farage last October in a post that the politician said was “pretty chilling”.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court was told on Tuesday that Mr Khan had a very large presence online with his videos on TikTok, under the username Madapasa, amassing hundreds of thousands of views.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Mr Khan’s videos in autumn last year focused on his attempts to come to the UK by small boat.
On 12 October last year, Mr Farage uploaded a video to YouTube entitled “the journey of an illegal migrant” which highlighted Mr Khan and referenced “young males of fighting age coming into our country about whom we know very little”.
The prosecution said Mr Khan responded with a video, which was played to the jury, in which Khan appears to say: “You not know me. I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. You not know me. [sic]
“Don’t talk about me more. Delete the video.
“I’m coming to England. I’m going to pop, pop, pop.”
Mr Ratliff told jurors that as Mr Khan said “pop, pop, pop” he made “gun gestures with his hand”, as well as headbutting the camera and pointing to an AK47 tattoo on his face to “emphasise he wasn’t joking”.
Detective Constable Liam Taylor told the court that Mr Khan had livestreamed his journey in a small boat across the English Channel from France and was arrested on 31 October after arriving in the UK.
Mr Farage said Mr Khan’s video was “pretty chilling”, adding: “Given his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried”.
The Reform UK leader said he and many people who saw the video understood it very clearly.
Mr Farage said on social media it was unusual to see people threatening to come for you directly, and how they would do it.
Asked by defence lawyer Charles Royle whether he was concerned that Mr Khan “wanted to marry” his sister, Mr Farage said: “I was concerned there was a man who clearly treats women as mere objects and could be a threat to them on our streets.”
Mr Khan, who had numerous face tattoos and who spoke to confirm his name through a Dari interpreter, denies making a threat to kill.
Mr Farage said: “What drew my attention – we all have different tastes but I thought the face tattoo was particularly aggressive, the presence of guns in previous posts and a general demeanour.”
Discussing Mr Khan during cross-examination, Mr Farage added: “The man was boasting that he was illegally coming to this country.
“Do people have that tattoo at your local golf club? I highly doubt it.”
Mr Ratliff told jurors the defendant plainly believed and intended that his threat would reach Mr Farage, who would fear that the threat would be carried out.
The prosecutor added that Mr Farage’s politics and illegal migration were irrelevant.
“He wanted Nigel Farage to believe he would carry out the threat because he wanted Nigel Farage to stop bringing attention to him and maybe his associates because he knew that bringing attention to him in that way might disrupt his attempt to get to the UK or his associates’ business,” he said.
The trial continues.
