It is never good when you go viral for a mugshot, as fugitive Jermaine Taylor found out. If the internet is passing your photo around and you become the butt of multiple jokes, it is usually because you A) are a terrible criminal who had a hilarious mishap, B) simply committed a wild crime or C) everyone is mocking your appearance.
Unfortunately for Jermaine, he became an internet sensation because of C.
Gwent Police in the United Kingdom posted the 21-year-old fugitive’s mugshot after he violated terms of his condition for release after he served a three-year jail sentence for supplying cocaine. Police were hoping that the public could help locate Taylor.
Instead, they received a barrage of ruthless comments — more than 76,000 — that were mocking Taylor for his very unique hairline, according to Metro.co.uk.
That led to police warning trolls that they could face charges if the online “harassment” continues.
“Please remember that harassing, threatening and abusing people on social media can be against the law. Our advice is to be as careful on social media as you would in any other form of communication,” the police wrote in a statement on Facebook. “If you say something about someone which is grossly offensive or is of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, then you could be investigated by the police.”
So, what were some of the comments?
One user commented: “He was last seen in town; police are combing the area,” while another joked: “He vanished into thin hair.”
Another added: “Looks like his hairline is on the run too.”
There was also the quip: “That hairline been pushed back more times than Brexit.”
The internet can be a brutal place.
The New York Post says that police admitted some of the jokes on social media made them laugh, obviously, but they wanted to remind people that “when the line is crossed from being funny to abusive, we do have to make sure we are responsible and remind people to be careful about what they write on social media.”
