‘Chris Brown did nothing wrong,’ wrote Right-wing trolls after Rihanna tweeted in support of protesting farmers.

‘Respect Chris Brown.’

‘Missing Chris Brown.’

‘Chris Brown did nothing wrong.’

In a new low for the Right-wing troll army on Twitter, American songwriter Chris Brown’s mentions soared on the social media platform on Wednesday, 3 February, after singer-actor Rihanna shared a news story on farmers’ protest against the Centre’s farm laws. The trolls took to Twitter to ‘praise’ and show ‘respect’ to Brown for hitting and abusing Rihanna in 2009.

“Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Rihanna had written on Twitter on Tuesday, adding the hashtag #FarmersProtest.

‘Felt Like a Monster’: Chris Brown Charged for Assault in 2009

In 2009, a 19-year-old Brown was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna, who was 20, during a confrontation the morning before the Grammys. After the R&B star pleaded guilty of assault, he was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to complete 180 days of community labour and a year-long anti-domestic violence programme.

Brown pleaded that he assaulted her with the “intent of doing great bodily injury.”

In a film documentary, Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life, released in 2017, he goes into detail about the abusive relationship with Rihanna, saying he “felt like a monster.”

“I remember she tried to kick me, just like her beating s**t, but then I really hit her. With a closed fist, like I punched her and it busted her lip. And when I saw it I was in shock, I was like, f**k why did I hit her like that?” Brown said in the documentary.

In a 2009 interview, following the attack, Rihanna said she “fended him off with my feet”. She added that Brown allegedly threatened to kill her, “to scare me”, and that “all I kept thinking was, ‘When is it going to stop,” according a report in The Guardian.

Most tweets celebrating Brown for assaulting Rihanna are still online on Twitter – raising questions about the enforcement of community standards in India.