Belgian authorities open criminal probe into conservative activists' arrest

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Conservative activists speak out after arrest for denouncing child transgender treatments

"Billboard Chris" and ADF International’s Lois McLatchie Miller spoke to Fox News Digital after they were arrested in Europe for wearing signs opposing gender treatments for children.

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Belgian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the arrest of conservative activists in Brussels last June, in a case that drew international attention and scrutiny from the U.S. State Department.

On June 5, 2025, Brussels police arrested Lois McLatchie Miller and Chris Elston while they were peacefully demonstrating and having conversations with onlookers about their opposition to transgender medical treatments for children.

Elston, a Canadian activist better known as "Billboard Chris," said he called police for protection after they faced "non-stop abuse and harassment" from the crowd and one man stalked McLatchie Miller. 

When officers arrived, McLatchie Miller and Elston were handcuffed, strip-searched and jailed. Elston said police warned them they could face a criminal charge for causing a disturbance, but ended up releasing them hours later with no formal charge.

Conservative activists Lois McLatchie-Miller and Chris Elston, "Billboard Chris," speak to a police officer in Brussels, Belgium, before they were arrested after facing harassment from a crowd for speaking out against puberty blockers for children, on June 5, 2025. (Chris Elston)

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"They got rid of us because we're the peaceful ones, and it's easier to get rid of us," Elston told Fox News Digital.

The arrest drew international outcry and the U.S. State Department revealed it was monitoring the case.

"We are aware of these reports and are looking into the matter. The State Department strongly supports the peaceful freedom of expression for all," a spokesperson told The Daily Wire last June.

According to an email obtained by Fox News Digital this week, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office has confirmed it has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

Vice President JD Vance sounded the alarm about free speech being under threat in Europe in comments in Munich last February. He warned that Europe appeared to be retreating from some of its fundamental values it shares with the U.S. and adopting "Soviet-era" censorship. (Marc Israel Sellem/Jerusalem Post/AP)

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"The Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation into this case," the message signed by Brussels public prosecutor, Julien Moinil, reads.

The email says Moinil is gathering evidence and Elston's attorney will be informed once the investigation is complete, as well as be given the opportunity to consult the case file.

"It’s clear by any measure that our right to free speech was violated when we were put in jail cells for speaking about puberty blockers," McLatchie Miller, a Scottish commentator and former ADF International senior legal communications officer, told Fox News Digital.

"If this criminal investigation results in a charge against us, that speaks volumes about European authorities’ willingness to clamp down on public conversations, in a severe violation of basic democracy. We hope for a just outcome that recognizes our wrongful arrest and our right to speak freely on the streets of Europe."   

Chris Elston, known as "Billboard Chris" protests at Boston Childrens Hospital over trans medical services on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

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It remains unclear from the prosecutor's office message whether the activists could face charges. Elston said he'd welcome the scrutiny, maintaining he did nothing wrong by speaking out against drugs and interventions he believes are harming children.

"I'm not worried at all, because I know my rights. I know what we did, I have everything on video," he told Fox News Digital. "And if they want to try to charge us criminally with standing quietly, having conversations, then I would welcome that with open arms."

"I think the police should actually be worried, because it's very clear they violated numerous procedural policies and decided to side with the actual violent, harassing people instead of us," he added. "We're talking about how children shouldn't be maimed and sterilized and chemically castrated with a cancer drug, with cross sex hormones and with surgeries."

Twenty members of the European Parliament wrote a letter to the European Commission in December saying that the arrest "raises serious concerns about freedom of thought and expression" in the European Union. The European Commission wrote back, saying that "freedom of expression is a fundamental right and a cherished value in the EU."

The arrest of Chris Elston and Lois McLatchie Miller in Brussels in June 2025 sparked international outcry. (Lois McLatchie Miller)

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The investigation followed demand letters sent by McLatchie Miller and Elston’s legal counsel to Belgian authorities in December seeking a settlement and an official apology.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Elston, who travels the globe protesting transgender treatments for children, called Brussels "the most woke city I have been to in my five years of campaigning, and nothing else comes close."

"We had a man throw a glass bottle at us. It landed behind me, but right in front of a five-year-old girl who was walking with her dad, smashed on the ground," Elston said. "People were telling me I needed to get out of there because Antifa was going to come, and no matter where we walked in the city, we were getting a lot of grief," he added.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.

The office of the Public Prosecutor of Brussels did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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