A white English woman accused of racially abusing passengers on a tram in London has been released on bail

Emma West, 34, was charged with a "racially aggravated public order offence" (i.e. she said critical things about immigrants in Britain) after footage of the incident was put online. Croydon Magistrates' Court released the defendant on bail until January 3, 2012. She has not entered a plea. At a previous court appearance, West was remanded in custody to protect her safety. West was arrested after footage, filmed on a Croydon-to-Wimbledon tram, was posted on YouTube. It has been viewed more than 11 million times. Hopefully, the charges against her will be dropped since all she was doing was exercising her right to free speech. It is particularly ironic that she was put in jail for speech when a group of Somalis were released from jail for physically assaulting a white woman while shouting racial slurs.