Tommy Robinson

About

Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, best known by his pseudonym Tommy Robinson (previously Andrew McMaster and Paul Harris) is an English right-wing activist and political adviser to the Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Robinson gained much online notoriety after posted a Facebook Live video outside a court of law, leading to 13 months imprisonment for contempt of court.

History

In 2009, Robinson co-founded the English Defence League (EDL) with his cousin Kevin Carroll, which orchestrates street demonstrations in opposition to Islamism and Islamic extremism. On October 12th, 2009, the BBC published an article titled "under the skin of English Defence League," reporting that the name Tommy Robison was pseudonym named after football hooligan. In April 2013, Robinson left the EDL, claiming it was due to fear regarding the "dangers of far-right extremism."

Imprisonment

On May 25th, 2018, Robinson held a Facebook Live stream outside of the Leeds Crown Court, during which he film defendants on trial as the alleged Huddersfield grooming gang. Robinson was arrested for breach of peace for filming the court and was sentenced to 13 months in prison.

Facebook Ban

On February 26th, 2019, Sky News^[1] reported that Robinson had been banned from Facebook and Instagram for posting "material that uses dehumanizing language" and "in ways that violate our policies around organized hate." Following the ban, Robinson delivered a statement claiming he "breached no rules, what I’ve done is shown people the truth and that is what they are removing, the truth." That day, media commentator Mohammed Shafiq tweeted that recently met with Facebook and accused Robinson's pages of "brainwashing supporters to become terrorist and use violence against Muslims" (shown below).

That day, Twitter user Nick Monroe tweeted a thread about Robinson's ban (shown below).

Milkshaking Incidents

On May 1st, 2019, a protester tossed a milkshake at right-wing activist Tommy Robinson on a sidewalk in Bury, England. The following day, another protester was filmed dumping an entire milkshake on Robinson during an argument (shown below).

Search Interest

External References