MIAMI (AP) — Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated.
The Tates appeared in federal court Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detention. In the coming weeks, a U.S. district judge will consider whether they meet the conditions for extradition. U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis set another hearing for Monday July 27.
The brothers, normally photographed in tailored suits and fitted shirts, wore tan jail uniforms and handcuffs during the brief hearing.
An attorney for the brothers, Joseph McBride, insisted they should remain in the U.S.
“We are of course objecting to extradition because Andrew and Tristan are innocent, McBride said after the heading. “They’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit.”
The brothers were surprised when they were arrested, McBride said, adding that the attempt to have them extradited was politically motivated. “There’s no question about it,” he told reporters.
He suggested the Tates case “had a lot to do with” former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to step down and said it was no coincidence that the brothers were arrested after meeting “friends in Washington, D.C.”
“We went to see our Congress people in D.C. and now we’re getting arrested. This feels political,” McBride said.
On Sunday, McBride said he was confident the extradition request would be denied.
Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new victims and were brought after authorities received evidence from Bedfordshire Police in southeastern England. The allegations, spanning 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”
The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other alleged victims in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015.
Their lawyer said in a statement Saturday that he believed the arrests were “greenlighted by a low-level functionary” at the Justice Department without input from leadership.
But the Justice Department told The Associated Press that the arrests were approved by leadership of its Criminal Division.
The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Their social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities.
The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.
Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and flew to Florida.
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Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed.
