Count Dankula Fined $1,100 For 'Hate Crime' Of Teaching Dog Nazi Salute As A Joke

30-year-old Mark Meechan has been fined £800 after being found guilty of committing a hate crime for teaching his girlfriend's dog to give Nazi salutes and posting videos of it on YouTube

— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) April 23, 2018

A man who filmed a pet dog giving Nazi salutes before putting the footage on YouTube has been fined £800.

Mark Meechan, 30, recorded his girlfriend's pug, Buddha, responding to statements such as "Sieg Heil" by raising its paw.

[...]Sheriff Derek O'Carroll found him guilty of a charge under the Communications Act that he posted a video on social media and YouTube which was grossly offensive because it was "anti-Semitic and racist in nature" and was aggravated by religious prejudice.

Fining Meechan £800, the sheriff told him: "The centrepiece of your video consists of you repeating the phrase 'Gas the Jews' over and over again as a command to a dog which then reacts.

"You use the command Sieg Heil, having trained the dog to raise its paw in response and the video shows a clip of a Nuremberg rally and a flashing image of Hitler with strident music. You say the video was only intended as a joke to upset your girlfriend, whose dog you used, and nothing more.

"On the whole evidence..I found it proved that the video you posted, using a public communications network, was grossly offensive and contained menacing, anti-Semitic and racist material."

He added: "The fact that you claim in the video, and elsewhere, that the video was intended only to annoy your girlfriend and as a joke and that you did not intend to be racist is of little assistance to you.

"A joke can be grossly offensive. A racist joke or a grossly offensive video does not lose its racist or grossly offensive quality merely because the maker asserts he only wanted to get a laugh."

Reporters swarmed me, wouldnt let me pass. One guy shoves a mic in my face and says "Why is it funny to gas the Jews?" They must teach sneaky questions like that on journalism courses.

Then as we are trying to get past, one of the cameramen on purpose tries to trip up Sue.

— Count Dankula🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@CountDankulaTV) April 23, 2018

Don't let your memes be dreams.

— Count Dankula🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@CountDankulaTV) April 23, 2018

Wew lad.

— Count Dankula🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@CountDankulaTV) April 23, 2018

pic.twitter.com/gfzsbpUmPK

— Count Dankula🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@CountDankulaTV) April 23, 2018