[Ashasx]

This is one of the most ridiculous stories I have seen.

A man who taught his girlfriend's pet pug to give Nazi salutes and then posted the footage on YouTube, has been found guilty of a hate crime.

Mark Meechan, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, will be sentenced in April after a Scottish court found him guilty of communicating a "grossly offensive" video.

The 30-year-old taught his girlfriend's pug to react to the words "gas the Jews", which he repeated 23 times in the short video that he uploaded to his YouTube channel last year.

Meechan told Airdrie Sheriff Court that he made the video to annoy his girlfriend Suzanne Kelly, 29, and denied any wrongdoing.

He said he had lost eight jobs since posting the video, adding that he only intended it to be seen by seven of his friends, who follow his YouTube channel, Count Dankula.

Sheriff O'Carroll said: "He said he chose 'gas the jews' as it was the most offensive phrase associated with the Nazi's that he could think of. It was the centrepiece of the joke. He said it was so extreme that it added to the comedy."

Meechan "knew what he was doing" he said, adding: "It is self-evident that the material is antisemitic."

He did not believe Meechan's defence that the video was made as a private joke to annoy his girlfriend and he pointed out that he had "not taken any steps to prevent the video being shared publicly".

In closing statements, Meechan's defence lawyer Ross Brown said: "The purpose of the video was to annoy his girlfriend. There was no evidence to demonstrate that he intended, by communicating the material, to cause fear or alarm."

He added that Meechan had only intended for the eight subscribers to his YouTube channel - all of which are friends who "share his sense of humour" - to see the video.

Mr Brown said there was no evidence of a complainer in the case, adding Police Scotland was not contacted by anyone who found the video "grossly offensive or menacing."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a8265301.html

The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYsl...ctr=1521600632

The video is so clearly a joke that this verdict absolutely insane. Meechan makes it clear that it's a joke, it's clear that the comedy is in how over the top and ridiculous it is to make a cute dog do these things.

It's scary that government can restrict free speech like this. It's amazing that somebody's right not to be offended outweighs somebody else's freedom of speech. No question the video is in poor taste, but that's the point.

Philip DeFranco had some good comments in his video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9sH-3AoF88

"To me, the video and joke are anti-Nazi, not anti-semetic... it sounds like he was found guilty because [the judge] didn't get the joke."