MIAMI – On Saturday, well-known influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, notorious for their controversial online presence advocating wealth, male supremacy, and misogynistic views, found themselves under arrest in Miami. Their apprehension comes as British authorities pursue their extradition over serious allegations of rape and sex trafficking.
Captured by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, the Tate brothers have thrust the United States into the center of this high-profile international legal drama, which has already spanned continents from Romania to Britain. U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron confirmed these developments to The Associated Press.
On Saturday, British prosecutors formally announced their bid to extradite the siblings, charging them with allegations of raping and trafficking women between the years 2010 and 2017.
Having relocated to Romania in 2016, the brothers were previously detained there in 2022 amid accusations related to schemes for recruiting women into sexual exploitation rings. The duo denied the charges, and the case was dropped due to various legal and procedural missteps.
The Tate brothers are slated to make an appearance in Miami’s federal court early next week, according to an anonymous source familiar with the ongoing sensitive law enforcement operations.
The pending charges in the United Kingdom accused the brothers of abusing women in an area north of London, where they grew up. Their lawyers had said they denied the allegations.
Joseph McBride, an attorney representing the Tate brothers, said in a phone interview Saturday evening that he has not been able to speak with his clients but called the new charges out of the U.K. “filth and slander” intended to derail defamation lawsuits filed by the brothers in the U.S.
“They’re pulling out all the stops to make sure these guys never get their day in court,” McBride said.
“We are confident that once a competent judge sees the facts, and once the Department of Justice confronts this egregious abuse of its own authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will walk free. America does not do Britain’s political dirty work
Andrew Tate, 39, first reached a mainstream audience as a contestant on the U.K. reality television show “Big Brother” in 2016. He was removed from the show when a video surfaced that appeared to show Tate assaulting a woman. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Andrew Tate has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines. His most widely condemned rhetoric includes comments that women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for their attacks, graphic descriptions of how he might attack women and criticisms of people who seek treatment for mental illness.
The Tate brothers have consistently denied allegations of abuse and human trafficking, claiming that violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.
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AP writer Savannah Peters in Santa Fe, New Mexico contributed.
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