US billionaire Elon Musk is tired of simply campaigning for US President-elect Donald Trump and urging Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the upcoming election. However, he has been politically active in the UK. So is the online campaign to free far-right activist Tommy Robinson from prison.
Robinson is currently in prison for violating a restraining order, but he has previously been imprisoned for assault and contempt of court.
What does Musk say about Tommy Robinson?
Musk, who was recently named special assistant by President Trump, posted several times on his X account on Wednesday and Thursday, saying Robinson, a notorious far-right activist who campaigns against immigration and Islam, said: He should be released.”
Free Tommy Robinson! @TRObinsonNewEra
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2025
Another posted: “Why is Tommy Robinson in solitary confinement for telling the truth?”
Why is Tommy Robinson in solitary confinement for telling the truth?
He should be released and those who covered up this travesty should be put in solitary confinement in his place. https://t.co/Dn48JLoJgR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
Who is Tommy Robinson and why is he in prison?
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to contempt of court in a defamation case involving Syrian refugee schoolboy Jamal Hijazi. .
In October 2018, a video went viral in the UK showing 15-year-old Hijazi being attacked by another teenager at a school in Almondbury, Yorkshire, northern England.
Robinson responded by posting a video on his Facebook account, claiming that Hijazi had assaulted “young British girls” and threatened to stab boys at school. denied the charge.
These videos were viewed by nearly a million people, and Hijazi and her family received death threats.
The High Court ruled in 2021 that Robinson had defamed Hijazi and ordered him to pay her 100,000 pounds ($124,000) in damages. The judge also granted an injunction preventing him from making the allegations again.
However, in February 2023, Robinson began repeating that claim, producing a documentary and posting it to his X account in which he claimed to have been “silenced by the state.” In July 2024, he screened the documentary to viewers in London’s Trafalgar Square.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Woolwich Crown Court in October 2024 after admitting breaching a 2021 injunction.
His documentary, titled “Silenced,” is still up on X and has been viewed 146.2 million times as of Friday. About 101,000 people, including Mr. Musk, retweeted it.
Robinson was banned from X (then known as Twitter) in 2018. However, Musk’s acquisition of Company X in 2018 allowed him to return to the platform. Robinson currently has over 1 million followers on X.
Robinson has previously been jailed for assault (2005), mortgage fraud (2014) and contempt of court (2024).
In 2019, he was sentenced to nine months in prison for contempt of court after uploading a video to Facebook featuring a defendant in a criminal trial. The trial involved a group of sex offenders accused of abusing young girls.
He founded the Islamophobic far-right organization the English Defense League in June 2009. The organization conducted violent demonstrations against Islam and was active until around 2013.
Why does Musk support Robinson?
Musk’s post supporting Robinson comes in the wake of Britain’s long-running grooming gang scandal, in which Musk claims Robinson tried to blow the whistle.
In June 2022, an independent investigation found that police and councils had failed to stop girls from being sexually exploited by gangs in Oldham, northern England. The study identified multiple opportunities to stop abuse since 2005.
In July 2024, Oldham City Council’s political leaders called on the government to investigate child sexual abuse in the town by ‘grooming gangs’.
But in October 2024, Home Secretary Jess Phillips rejected the council’s request, saying it should lead its own investigation.
On Wednesday, right-wing British news outlet GB News reported this, accusing the Labor Party, which came to power in a landslide in July of taking seats from the Conservative Party after 14 years in power, of inaction against grooming gangs. The report was further amplified by Mr Musk and other UK Conservative Party leaders.
Musk said on his X account that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer failed to prosecute child rapists when he was director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. He also posted on X on Friday: “Jess Phillips is an apologist for rape and genocide.”
Musk’s post supporting Robinson comes alongside a wave of his posts online endorsing right-wing figures in Europe. In late December, he wrote an opinion piece supporting Germany’s right-wing party AfD. He is also supported by Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform Britain party and Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s position was “misjudged and misinformed.”
“Mr Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson as well as Germany’s AfD shows how big of a problem he is for democracy, and that he is favored by the likes of Nigel Farage and Liz Truss. It shows the reputation of the people who give it to them,” said Labor MP Stella Creasy. he told Politico.
In December, Farage met with Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. On Thursday, Musk posted on X: “Only reform can save Britain.”
Only reform can save Britain. https://t.co/KayCknFQUZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
Mr Farage resigned from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2018 after its leader, Gerard Batten, appointed Mr Robinson as an official adviser.
Reformist chairman Zia Yusuf is also a Muslim. Mr Farage has yet to publicly respond to Mr Musk’s recent posts about Robinson.
