Tommy Robinson

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Tommy Robinson (2018)

Tommy Robinson (born November 27, 1982 in Luton ; other pseudonyms : Andrew McMaster , Paul Harris ; real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ) is a British political activist . He is the founder and former head of the English Defense League (EDL), which is classified by various critics as right-wing populist to right-wing extremist and Islamophobic - an assessment that Robinson shares and which, according to his own statements, prompted him to resign. He is also a co-founder of the European Defense League and was briefly vice-chairman of the far-right and Islamophobic British Freedom Party (BFP) in 2012 . He also supports the Pegida movement and participates in the organization of the British branch.

Life and Political Work

Tommy Robinson was born Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in 1982 in Luton, UK. He started training at Luton Airport . In 2005 he was sentenced to one year in prison for assault. After his release, he first worked as a plumber and later opened a tanning salon .

In August 2009 he rose to become the leader of the newly founded English Defense League after emerging as the winner in a dispute over the direction. At first he appeared masked in public out of concern about Islamist and left-wing extremist attacks, until a photographer succeeded in photographing his face in April 2010. In June of the same year, anti-fascist Searchlight Magazine revealed that Robinson was Yaxley-Lennon, who had been sentenced to 12 months in prison for attacking an off-duty police officer, and against his alleged distancing from the far-right British National Party ( BNP) had been their member for twelve months. In 2011, Robinson denied claims by Anders Behring Breivik that he had extensive contacts with the EDL and that he had participated in one of their demonstrations in Bradford .

On July 6, 2011, the English Defense League signed a cooperation agreement with the right-wing populist party British Freedom around chairman Paul Weston , and in 2012 he and EDL vice-leader Kevin Carroll were appointed vice chairmen. Robinson resigned from all offices of the British Freedom Party in October 2012.

On October 8, 2013, the Quilliam Foundation announced that Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll wanted to leave the joint leadership of the English Defense League because they had concerns about the increasing instrumentalization by right-wing extremists. Although they are still against Islamism, they want to counter it with democratic means.

On October 19, 2015, he took part in the one-year anniversary of PEGIDA in Dresden as one of several international guest speakers; his speech was translated or read out into German by Götz Kubitschek .

9 June 2018, Trafalgar Square: Demonstration for the release of Robinson

On November 22nd, 2018, Gerard Batten , the chairman of the UK Independence Party , announced that Tommy Robinson would advise him on the issues of group rape by organized gangs ( rape gangs ) and prison reform because he had "a great deal of knowledge" on these topics . The announcement sparked protests from various quarters and the resignation of well-known UKIP politician Nigel Farage from the party.

In November 2018, Robinson admitted that he had made false allegations against a 15-year-old Syrian-born student from Almondbury Community School who was hostile because of the wide reach of the publication - the Facebook post was seen by 900,000 people and saw threats. Robinson said he had been misled: "'[... I have ...] been completely mugged off' by 'some leftie'." The Syrian boy's attorney defended himself against allegations that he was through a possible lawsuit against Robinson wants to restrict freedom of expression.

In March 2019, the online mail order company Amazon removed the book “Mohammed's Koran: Why Muslims kill for Islam” from the program that Robinson had published together with Peter McLoughlin. The social media platforms Twitter, Instagram and Facebook had previously deleted Tommy Robinson’s presence because of repeated violations of the platform guidelines. The video platform YouTube did not completely block Yaxley-Lennon's account, but severely restricted functionality.

In April 2019, Robinson announced his candidacy as an independent candidate for the 2019 European elections. His candidacy - as a declared EU opponent - was sharply criticized in moderate circles and viewed as an attempt to avoid imprisonment from the court proceedings that were running at the same time through his possible election and the resulting immunity as an EU parliamentarian. In the election, however, he received only 2.7% of the vote.

Criminal proceedings and prison sentences

Tommy Robinson has been charged with several criminal offenses since 2005, including assault, fraud, immigration fraud, rioting and drug possession. He has therefore been sentenced to more than 10 prison terms so far: including 2005 for bodily harm, 2013 for illegal entry into the USA, 2014 for loan fraud, and 2017 and 2019 for contempt of court.

In 2005, he received his first 12 month prison term for drunk and assaulting a police officer who was not on duty. He then lost his apprenticeship at Luton Airport.

On August 24, 2010, Robinson was given a suspended sentence for leading a brawl between fans of Luton Town and Newport County's football clubs.

On January 7, 2013, a UK court sentenced Robinson to ten months in prison for illegally entering the United States on a friend's passport. He appealed against the verdict and was equipped on 22 February 2013, an electronic tracking system and out of custody , released, in which he had been held since the end of October last year.

In late 2013, Robinson pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

In May 2017, Robinson was sentenced in Canterbury for contempt of court to a three-month prison term with 18 months probation after inadmissibly reporting on an ongoing criminal case for gang rape .

On May 25, 2018, he was arrested in Leeds on charges of disregard of the local court because - despite the news blackout he was aware of - he reported via Facebook live stream about an ongoing criminal case for child abuse, in which he filmed the accused and his own Urged onlookers to "find the accused, disturb them and knock on their door". In this context, it was disturbing the peace ( English Breach of the peace accused) and incitement. The reason for the arrest was the prohibition of filming underage defendants, as well as concerns about the integrity of the jury or the possible failure of the lengthy judicial process if the jury is influenced by prejudicial reporting. In August 2018, Robinson was released on bail and conditionally and an appeal was placed on his conduct in Leeds; the conviction of the Canterbury incident was upheld by the appeals court. This conviction and the circumstances surrounding the imprisonment has been heavily criticized by Robinson's supporters and seen as evidence of the inappropriate persecution of a journalist (Robinson) and restriction of the freedom of the press. Demonstrations in favor of Robinson took place in London. Robinson's supporters accused the British judiciary, among other things, of deliberately transferring it to a prison with a particularly high number of Muslim prisoners. The allegations have been questioned in other sources. On July 5, 2019, Robinson was found guilty on appeal by the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London for violating the news blackout with his live stream on Facebook, which was a criminal contempt of court. Robinson was unreasonable after the verdict was announced and accused the court of being convicted for who he was but not for what he had done. The 2017 suspended sentence was revoked due to the new offense and Robinson was sentenced to a total of 19 weeks in prison, of which he has to serve no more than half.

Bibliography (selection)

  • Tommy Robinson, Tommy Robinson Enemy of the State . The Press News Ltd (December 9, 2015). 344 pages. ISBN 978-0-9570964-9-3
  • Peter McLoughlin, Tommy Robinson, Mohammed's Koran: Why Muslims Kill for Islam . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (June 21, 2017). 400 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955849-0-7

literature

  • Nigel Copsey: The English Defense League: Challenging our Country and our Values ​​of Social Inclusion, Fairness and Equality. Faith Matters, www.faith-matters.org, 2010. (Online as PDF )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b EDL leader Stephen Lennon jailed for false passport open. In: bbc.co.uk. January 7, 2013, accessed May 26, 2019 .
  2. ^ Len Tingle: Far right targets West Yorkshire with rallies. In: bbc.com. August 14, 2012, accessed October 20, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Dominic Casciani: Tommy Robinson: The rancour, rhetoric and riches of brand Tommy. In: bbc.com. July 11, 2019, accessed on January 26, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Copsey 2010 , pp. 13-14.
  5. ^ Mark Hughes, Gordon Rayner: Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik had extensive links to the English Defense League. In: telegraph.co.uk. July 25, 2011, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  6. ^ Gordon Rayner: Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik emailed 'manifesto' to 250 British contacts. In: telegraph.co.uk. July 26, 2011, accessed November 28, 2018 .
  7. ↑ BigJay: Official Statement - Anders Breivik. In: englishdefenceleague.org. July 24, 2011, archived from the original on July 31, 2011 ; accessed on November 17, 2019 .
  8. ^ EDL and British Freedom Press Conference on YouTube , July 6, 2013, accessed September 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Tommy Robinson Steps Down From Party To Devote All His Energy to EDL. In: britishfreedom.org. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012 ; accessed on May 1, 2019 (English).
  10. ^ Quilliam facilitates Tommy Robinson leaving the English Defense League. In: quilliaminternational.com. October 8, 2013, accessed May 30, 2018 .
  11. ^ EDL leader Tommy Robinson quits group. In: bbc.com. October 8, 2013, accessed May 27, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Demo in Dresden on October 19 , 2015 - Pegida - Speech 11 - Tommy Robinson on YouTube , October 21, 2015, accessed on September 14, 2018.
  13. ^ Nigel Farage: Ditch UKIP leader for hiring Tommy Robinson. BBC News, November 23, 2018, accessed November 23, 2018 .
  14. ^ Former leader Nigel Farage quits UKIP. In: bbc.com. December 4, 2018, accessed March 16, 2019 .
  15. ^ Family of Syrian refugee attacked by schoolkids plan to sue Tommy Robinson over allegations. November 29, 2018, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Tommy Robinson admits he shared 'fake news'. November 30, 2018, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Aasma Day: Lawyer Suing Tommy Robinson On Behalf Of Syrian Refugee Dismisses Claims He Is Blocking Free Speech. In: huffingtonpost.co.uk. December 3, 2018, accessed December 15, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Amazon bans book co-written by Tommy Robinson from their website. March 7, 2019, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Alex Hern, Jim Waterson: Tommy Robinson banned from Facebook and Instagram. In: theguardian.com. February 26, 2019, accessed May 14, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Kevin Rawlinson: Tommy Robinson permanently banned by Twitter . In: The Guardian . March 28, 2018, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed April 18, 2019]).
  21. ↑ Markus Richter: Right-wing populism on YouTube - Restricted, but not blocked. Conversation with Sebastian Wellendorf. In: deutschlandfunk.de. April 4, 2019, accessed April 20, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Tommy Robinson 'standing as European elections candidate'. April 25, 2019, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Nick Lowles: Anyone who votes for Tommy Robinson will be let down. In: Metro. April 26, 2019, Retrieved April 29, 2019 (American English).
  24. ↑ Jennifer Williams: What are the Greater Manchester European Election 2019 results? May 27, 2019, accessed May 27, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Tommy Robinson's supporters erupt as he is jailed for contempt of court - follow live updates. July 11, 2019, accessed on July 11, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Who is the real Tommy Robinson? . The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  27. ^ EDL's founder led football brawl . July 25, 2011 ( bbc.com [accessed April 29, 2019]).
  28. ↑ Christopher Arden: English Defense League leader 'released from jail' , Guardian. February 22, 2013. 
  29. ↑ Dominic Gover: EDL Leader Tommy Robinson Faces Trial for Passport Allegation after 9/11 US Speech , International Business Times. October 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2013. 
  30. ↑ EDL founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon admits mortgage fraud. In: bbc.com. November 26, 2013, accessed May 29, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Tommy Robinson 'encouraged vigilantes' in live video outside grooming gang trial. In: Metro. July 9, 2019, accessed July 23, 2019 (American English).
  32. ↑ Lizzie Dearden: Tommy Robinson arrested for 'breaching the peace' outside court during grooming trial. In: The Independent of May 25, 2018
  33. ↑ Benjamin Konietzny: New Freedom Icon of the Right - Why Tommy Robinson is really imprisoned. In: n-tv.de. May 30, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Owen Bowcott, Emma Snaith: Tommy Robinson freed on bail as court orders retrial. In: theguardian.com . August 1, 2018, accessed September 26, 2018 .
  35. ↑ Who Is Tommy Robinson And Why Has His Arrest Captivated The Right Wing Media? Retrieved April 18, 2019 .
  36. ^ Hundreds demonstrate in Downing Street after far-right figure Tommy Robinson arrested. May 27, 2018, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Tommy Robinson complains he was 'mentally tortured' because he had no TV in prison. August 4, 2018, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  38. ↑ Mikey Smith, Oliver MacKenzie: No, Tommy Robinson hasn't been moved to a 71 per cent Muslim prison. June 14, 2018, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  39. ^ Tara John CNN: Tommy Robinson faces jail time after being found guilty of contempt of court. Retrieved July 8, 2019 .
  40. ↑ Tommy Robinson guilty over Facebook broadcast. In: bbc.com. July 5, 2019, accessed on July 28, 2019 .
  41. ↑ Tommy Robinson's supporters erupt as he is jailed for contempt of court - follow live updates. July 11, 2019, accessed on July 11, 2019 .
  42. ↑ Ben Quinn: Tommy Robinson given nine-month jail term for contempt of court . In: The Guardian . July 11, 2019, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed July 11, 2019]).
  43. ↑ Jamie Bartlett: What's it like to be Britain's most hated man? Ask Tommy Robinson. In: telegraph.co.uk . February 4, 2016, accessed January 3, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Robinson, Tommy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yaxley-Lennon, Stephen (real name); Lennon, Stephen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British political activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Luton