FATHER Ted writer Graham Linehan has made a complaint about Nazi dog creator Mark Meechan's appeal to raise £100,000 from the public to pay for his 'free speech' appeal to the High Court.
Meechan, 30, launched the gofundme.com bid after being fined £800 at Airdrie Sheriff Court for communicating a video which was deemed to be "grossly offensive".
The YouTuber, who was convicted for releasing a viral video in which he trains his dog to Sieg Heil to the phrase "gas the Jews" raised his target amount in just 24 hours after launching the gofundme.com bid. He has now clashed with Mr Linehan after the Father Ted writer reported what was happening to gofundme.com on social media.
Mr Linehan had previously clashed with the 30-year-old after the initial verdict when Meechan appeared on the controversial right-wing US media show Info Wars – hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones – alongside English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson.
Mr Linehan, an Irish TV comedy writer who also wrote and directed The IT Crowd and has attacked Meechan's motives for the video said: "Hey, gofundme. Are you guys aware of the details of this guy's case? He's using your site to cash in on spreading hate speech by framing it as a joke."
Nazi dog prankster Mark Meechan reveals he tried to get the sheriff to jail him
He added on Twitter: Congratulations to all who supported Count Dipsh*t's monetising of the phrase 'Gas the Jews'. £5824 for every time he said it in the video. Great work."
After he was criticised for his stance he said to one Twitter user: "F**king hell, he's supported by Tommy Robinson and Infowars. His videos appear on the Daily Stormer. Why are you trying to participate in a conversation when you have no information? Dips**t.
"If you contributed to that fund you are dumb as s**t. But then, that's what right wing grifters depend on."
But Meechan from Coatbridge, who is known by his online moniker of Count Dankula, hit back saying the writer was "doing what he does best, being a complete idiot and a hypocrite because he has actually made far worse jokes than me in the past".
Meechan has previously compared his two-year-old M8 Yer Dugs A Nazi video to the Are Your Right There Father Ted? episode in which the main character of the classic comedy ends up in a room full of Nazi memorabilia.
Meechan added: He's still so angry at me because he got exposed as being a hypocrite. The remaining money was going to charity."
How 'Nazi dog' creator Mark Meechan clashed with Father Ted writer
His girlfriend Sue Hulk also criticised Mr Linehan saying: "Can you show me where he is 'cashing in on spreading hate speech'. In fact, can you show me the hate speech? People like you who ignore content are the reason this fund is needed."
Meechan, whose controversial video was viewed more than three million times, insists that the video was meant as a joke to wind up Ms Hulk.
The pair previously clashed when Mr Linehan proclaimed on social media after the verdict that "the guy is alt-right".
Mr Linehan declared: "This is what they do, sneak fascism and hatred in under the guise of irony . I don’t think he could go to jail, but I’m happy the court saw through it.
"Maybe, need to know more about the case. But also dangerous is the alt-right telling lonely young men that they’re comedy geniuses by finding ways of saying 'gas the Jews' repeatedly."
Mr Linehan, also known for making major contributions to acclaimed comedy series Big Train and Brass Eye, also took to task satircal reporter Jonathan Pie, originally given a platform by the Russian state-owned news service RT, who proclaimed in his own video that Meechan's film was “just a joke.”
Nazi dog Youtuber Mark Meechan raises £100k from public to launch High Court conviction appeal
But Meechan hit back by posting a screen shot from what some have dubbed the "accidental facist" Father Ted episode.
He said: "The guy who wrote Father Ted constantly screeches on Twitter about how me making Nazi jokes means I am a Nazi. It seems he has forgotten his own history."
Meechan defended his involvement with Mr Robinson to Facebook users, saying: "Imagine not wanting to support free speech in the UK, just because Tommy Robinson is supporting it."
The Fund The Count Dankula Appeal page has raised over £136,000 and had 15,000 shares.
Meechan says the case raises issues about freedom of speech and he will not be paying the fine.
'Nazi dog' prankster Mark Meechan hits back at sheriff
If the sentence sticks on appeal, he says he would give the amount to charity and post the evidence of the donation online.
In launching the appeal he said: "This conviction will be used as an example to convict other people over the things they say and the jokes they make, it sets a standard where courts will be able to willfully ignore the context and intent of a persons words and actions in order to punish them and brand them as criminals."
Dozens of supporters of Meechan, including former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson, were at Airdrie Sheriff Court for the sentencing hearing on Monday.
Meanwhile in London, hundreds gathered at an anti-censorship march in support of Meechan organised by The Liberalists UK, who describe themselves as a "mix of centre-left (social liberal) and centre-right (classical liberal) individualists".
Sheriff Derek O'Carroll said the video was grossly offensive and that his girlfriend did not even subscribe to the video channel he posted it on.
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