A video has emerged of the moment controversial influencer and accused rapist Andrew Tate appears to try to pass his phone to a member of his entourage during his arrest in Florida.
The 39-year-old and his younger brother, Tristan, 38, were being detained US Marshals when Amdrew Tate appears to try to hand his phone to his bodyguard who drops it.
It is not clear whether US marshals recovered Tate’s cellphone following the arrest in Miami on Saturday.
The “manosphere” influencers were arrested on behalf of the authorities in the UK, who want to extradite the siblings to stand trial on rape and human trafficking charges.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also charged Andrew with seven new counts of rape, as well as charges relating to sex trafficking and indecent images of a child.
Tristan was hit with two new counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.
British-born Andrew was already facing 10 charges, including three counts of rape, four of actual bodily harm, two of human trafficking, and one of controlling prostitution for gain, before his latest detention.
Tristan was previously facing 11 charges, including three counts of rape, six of actual bodily harm, and two counts of human trafficking.
The two brothers, who became notorious for advertising their hyper-misogynistic content to teenage boys and young men, now face a total of 59 charges between them related to seven alleged victims.
The pair had been living in Romania since 2016, where they are also facing a separate criminal investigation involving alleged rape, human trafficking, organized criminal activity, and money laundering.
After Romanian authorities insisted they couldn’t extradite the brothers to Britain until their own case was complete, UK prosecutors decided to target them when they learned they were flying to the US.
British authorities will now submit a formal application to US authorities to have the brothers extradited so they can stand trial in the UK.
The Tates, who hold join American and British nationalities, can challenge that extradition request in the courts.
Their attorney claimed the arrest was a “political hit job,” blaming it on a “low-level functionary at the Department of Justice who never got approval from [Donald Trump’s] leadership.”
“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,” attorney Joseph D McBride said.
The Tate brothers have denied any wrongdoing relating to all the allegations in both the UK and Romania
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