Andrew and Tristan Tate to remain in jail until next extradition hearing

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in jail at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said on Monday.US magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for 13 August to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released during what could be a months-long extradition process.The brothers were not in court on Monday or required to be there and have remained in jail since making a brief court appearance two days after their 18 July arrest.The Tates have become among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities with their promotion of wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire. The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the US, Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.Attorneys for the brothers said on Monday that they want the US government to turn over documents that UK officials submitted to secure their arrest.“They don’t have anything but the accusations,” Joseph McBride, an attorney, said after the hearing. “It’s just their word against our word right now.”The UK has until mid-September to turn over all of its materials to the state department, Alejandra Lopez, a US attorney, said in court.The brothers have long claimed that their violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.Jackie Perczek, another one of their attorneys, said the Tates have shown they are not a flight risk by returning to Romania every month after they were accused there of luring women for sexual exploitation.“For three years they have not fled,” she said. “They’ve traveled the world and every month they return to Romania.”The former professional kickboxers, who have dual US and UK citizenship, have millions of social media followers and are vocal supporters of Donald Trump. The White House has said the brothers shouldn’t expect any help from the president.McBride said shortly after the Tates were arrested that “they’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit,” he said.McBride said the extradition attempt was politically motivated, though he provided no details.Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new accusers and were brought after authorities received evidence from police in Bedfordshire, in south-eastern England. The allegations, which span from 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography”.The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other accusers in the UK between 2012 and 2015.The brothers moved to Romania in 2016 and were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations, and the Romanian case has not gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.Andrew Tate, 39, became known a decade ago when he was a contestant on the UK reality television show Big Brother. He was booted from the show when a video appeared to show him assaulting a woman.He has amassed more than 10 million followers on X but has been banned from other platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, for violating hate speech guidelines. He has made widely condemned comments, such as saying women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for the attacks and sharing graphic descriptions of how he might attack women.