SNP MSP Karen Adam 'receives death threats' following paedophile tweet row

MSP Karen Adam has revealed that she is worried for her and her family’s safety after receiving “death threats” and “vile abuse” amid a Twitter row with an Alba party politician.

She said that she had been told to kill herself and that she would be “put through a wood chipper” after tweeting in the wake of the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell that abusers are not “Mac wearing flashers in the street” but are “our family, friends and colleagues”.

The post was interpreted by some, including Alba Party general secretary Chris McEleny, as an attempt to humanise those who abuse children – something the MSP firmly rejected.

He claimed that Ms Adam, who was elected to represent Banffshire and Buchan Coast at last year’s election, was an “ideological zealot” who had made an “appalling error in judgement”. She said that was a “sick and twisted” distortion of her words.

Karen Adam MSP said she has received death threats.

Sexual assault survivor Ms Adam, clarified her comments on Sunday, pointing out that she meant that predators are often people who are seen in society as “respectable”, however, on Monday morning she revealed that she had received a barrage of threats overnight.

She said: “Can’t sleep, not eaten. I’m worried for mine and my families safety after I was just told my personal details are now being shared. Death threats, vile abuse, told to kill myself. Told I’d be put through a wood chipper. Grateful for litigation advice."

Ms Adam had said: “I myself am a survivor of child sexual assault. To anyone denying or dismissing the fact that these predators are anything but people who walk among us who go under cover as ‘respectable’ only enable these people to go unnoticed.”

On Monday, Mr McEleny condemned the abuse Ms Adam received and called for people who interact about Scottish politics to “do so in a much nicer way”.

He said: “I reject in the strongest possible manner anyone that has directed abhorrent threats at Ms Adam. I would urge her to report these to the police. My own Twitter notifications are currently full of abuse, threats, and requests for me to do horrible things to myself, which are never nice things to read for me or my family when you have a history of poor mental health experiences."

He added: “I would plead with everyone that interacts about Scottish politics on Twitter to do so in a much nicer way. Ms Adam has subsequently clarified the point she was attempting to make in the initial tweet, which had been criticised by many online due to statements it made, and the message she is getting across with the added explanation is an important one that we should all listen to.”

In her original tweet, she wrote: “Paedophiles and predators are people. Not bogey men under the bed. Not Mac wearing flashers in the street, faceless and nameless.

“They are our family, friends and colleagues. They are not scary monsters. They are people who abuse. It’s uncomfortable to humanise them because we then have to face the horrors in plain sight. Horrifying isn’t it? Face it and warn our kids.”

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