Man arrested in Yorkshire after complaints over Manchester Arena bomber Halloween costume

A man has been arrested after complaints about somebody appearing on social media wearing a Halloween costume depicting Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi.
By Dave Higgens, PA
Published 2nd Nov 2023, 08:43 BST

Abedi killed 22 people and himself when he detonated a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the arena in May 2017.

Pictures of a man wearing an Arabic-style headdress, with the slogan "I love Ariana Grande" on his T-shirt, and carrying a rucksack with "Boom" and "TNT" written on the front, caused fury when they were posted earlier this week.

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In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said: "North Yorkshire Police can confirm that a man has been arrested after the force received complaints about a man wearing an offensive costume on social media depicting murderer Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people at Manchester Arena.

Flowers and balloons are placed in central Manchester on May 22, 2018, the one year anniversary of the deadly attack at Manchester Arena. Flowers and balloons are placed in central Manchester on May 22, 2018, the one year anniversary of the deadly attack at Manchester Arena.
Flowers and balloons are placed in central Manchester on May 22, 2018, the one year anniversary of the deadly attack at Manchester Arena.

"The man was arrested on November 1 on suspicion of a number of offences including using a public communication network to send offensive messages.

"He remains in police custody for questioning at this time."