1. Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a British anti-Muslim bigot with links to far-right groups in Europe.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is a former football hooligan who adopted the name Tommy Robinson around 2009 from another notorious football hooligan at a football club in his hometown of Luton. He began serving an 18-month prison sentence in October 2024 for contempt of court related to an anti-Muslim defamation lawsuit he lost in 2021.
In 2004, Robinson joined the fascist British National Party (BNP), but later left the party a year later, claiming he had no knowledge that the party held white supremacist views. In 2009, he founded the English Defense League (EDL), an anti-Muslim, anti-immigration organization made up of hundreds of fellow former football hooligans. Mr Robinson said he formed the group to fight Islamic extremists on Britain’s streets.
The EDL, now defunct, opposed Muslim immigration to the UK and vilified Muslims already living in the UK. The group frequently staged violent protests against the Muslim community. In 2011, Robinson declared: “The Muslim community will feel the full force of the EDL if it ever sees its citizens killed, seriously injured or maimed again on British soil.” Mr. Robinson left the EDL by 2013, citing infighting and other internal issues, but continued to be active as an anti-Muslim activist. “If I could, I would personally send back tomorrow every adult male Muslim who has entered the EU in the last 12 months,” Robinson said in 2016, according to a report by Hope Not Hate, a British group that monitors extremism. ” he tweeted. In early 2017, Robinson became a reporter for the Canadian far-right website Rebel Media, where he produced anti-Muslim videos.
Robinson was arrested in May 2018 after livestreaming outside a trial involving a Muslim man accused of sexually grooming young girls in the UK (see details below). Prosecutors also allege that Mr Robinson’s social media posts influenced Darren Osborne, who deliberately attacked a group of Muslims near a mosque in London’s Finsbury Park in June 2017. He drove a van, killing one person and injuring several others. In another incident in November 2018, Robinson publicly accused a refugee Muslim teenager of being a violent bully at school. The boy sued Robinson for defamation in 2019 and won in 2021. Robinson’s current prison sentence stems from this incident. He repeated the allegations against the boy even after being found guilty of defamation.
2. Robinson’s anti-immigration comments and protests in the United Kingdom attracted the attention and support of anti-immigration activists in the United States.
The EDL’s anti-immigration views are primarily aimed at Muslims, mobilizing British nationals and drawing support from xenophobic groups in the United States. At its height, under Robinson’s leadership, the EDL drew thousands of people, including neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, to anti-Muslim demonstrations, which Media Matters newspaper reported in a 2010 media report as “the British It has become the most important far-right street movement since the National Front. 1970s. ” Hope Not Hate reported that the EDL has allied itself with other anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups in Europe and the United States, “including neoconservative organizations and the anti-Muslim wing of the Tea Party movement.”
Anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, who founded the group Stop the Islamization of America in 2009, has repeatedly praised the EDL, writing in the conservative publication American Thinker in 2010 that “Free Men is an effort to represent England.” should support the English Defense League.” And the West will stand up against belligerent invaders and Islamic imperialists. ” Fellow American anti-immigrant activist Ann Coulter also praised the EDL and Robinson in a 2013 article in the conservative publication The Daily Caller.
Former Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly gave Robinson a platform to voice his opinions in a 2013 interview in which Robinson called anti-Muslim activities “a fight for Christianity, a fight for the future of our children.” “A fight for culture, a fight for culture, and a fight.” For our country’s identity, which is completely under attack.” After serving time for mortgage fraud in 2014, Robinson joined the German anti-immigrant group Pegida and established a local branch in Germany. In England he tried (unsuccessfully) to replicate their tactics and strategy.
3. Robinson’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views have gained him support from the far right in the United States.
Far-right groups in the United States have expressed their admiration and support for Robinson. In 2018, when Robinson was jailed for contempt of court (see below) for livestreaming outside the trial (see below) of a Muslim man accused of grooming a British girl, tens of thousands of Several British nationals signed a petition calling for his release. Additionally, many American far-right figures have (falsely) claimed that Robinson was arrested for his comments about Muslims and that British authorities violated his right to free speech. Robinson received support from a variety of people in 2018. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “Please don’t let America fall into that trap.” “If we lost people like Tommy Robinson, we wouldn’t have a country,” former Trump administration adviser Steve Bannon told reporters. Daniel Pipes, president of the conservative Middle East Forum think tank, and David Horowitz of the right-wing David Horowitz Foundation also spoke out in support of Robinson.
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) also supported Robinson at a pro-Robinson rally in July 2018 that drew thousands of supporters as part of the “Free Tommy” movement in London. , made derogatory remarks about Muslims. Pipes and Horowitz then invited Robinson to the United States, and Gosar invited Robinson to speak at the Congressional Conservative Opportunity Association. Mr Robinson said dozens of British MPs and organizations, including the ADL, feared there would be a rise in extremism and violence among his supporters in the UK if they were allowed to enter the US. I was refused a visa because I warned that there was.
4. Robinson has an extensive list of criminal acts, including the use of a false identity, fraud, and contempt of court.
Robinson has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times in the UK. Most recently, in October 2024, authorities violated an injunction barring the screening of Robinson’s self-produced documentary Silence, which repeats the defamation he first made against a Muslim refugee teenager in 2018. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. The boy was labeled a “violent school bully” and found guilty of defamation.
In 2021, Mr Robinson was given a five-year protection order for stalking a female British journalist who was revealing about his handling of donations from supporters. In January 2014, Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in prison for mortgage fraud. In January 2013, Robinson was sentenced to prison for attempting to enter the United States with false identification. In July 2011, Robinson was found guilty of leading a brawl involving more than 100 football fans, arrested and sentenced to a 12-month community reintegration order.
5. Robinson’s recent activities demonstrate his ongoing anti-Muslim bigotry.
In January 2022, Mr Robinson produced a series of documentaries about the sexual grooming of young British girls. Approximately 1,500 people attended the screening of the first documentary, but he screened four more documentaries that received less attention.
A court injunction prevented Robinson from screening his film Silence, but he moved to Spain in 2023 and later presented a version of the film released by MICE Media in a meeting with the Danish parliament in Copenhagen. It was screened. The conference was organized by the Danish People’s Party, a right-wing populist party focused on immigration, and the Free Press Association. He also gave multiple interviews regarding the film, in which he repeated false claims.
Mr Robinson returned to the UK in late 2023. Following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Mr Robinson urged supporters to protect British monuments from pro-Palestinian marchers during Armistice Day (November 11) protests. I called out. However, Mr Robinson is said to have fled the scene when clashes between supporters and police escalated into violence.
In July 2024, Robinson screened the film Silence for thousands of supporters in London’s Trafalgar Square, declaring that he would not be silent. In October 2024, he was sentenced to prison for violating an injunction preventing him from spreading false allegations about Muslim teens.
