Tommy Robinson speaks at a demonstration at Richmond Terrace, Whitehall on April 23, 2024 in London, England. (Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
1. Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a British anti-Muslim bigot with ties to far-right groups in Europe.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is a former soccer hooligan who, around 2009, adopted the name Tommy Robinson from another infamous soccer hooligan associated with a football club in his hometown of Luton. In October 2024, he began serving an 18-month prison term for contempt of court related to an anti-Muslim libel lawsuit he lost in 2021.
In 2004, Robinson joined the fascist British National Party (BNP), but left after one year, later claiming he didn’t know the group held white supremacist views. In 2009, he founded the English Defence League (EDL), an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant organization made up of hundreds of his fellow former soccer hooligans. Robinson said he formed the group to fight radical Islam in the streets of Great Britain.
EDL, now defunct, opposed Muslim immigration to the U.K. and vilified the Muslims already living there. The group held frequent, violent protests against the Muslim community. In 2011, Robinson declared, “The Islamic community will feel the full force of the EDL if we see any of our citizens killed, maimed or hurt on British soil ever again.” Robinson left the EDL by 2013 due to infighting and other internal problems but remained an anti-Muslim activist. Hope Not Hate, a British organization that monitors extremism, reported that in 2016, Robinson tweeted, “I’d personally send every adult male Muslim that has come into the EU over the past 12 months back tomorrow if I could.” 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 Muslim men who were charged with sexually grooming young British girls (see below for more information). In addition, prosecutors alleged that Robinson’s social media posts influenced Darren Osborne, who deliberately drove a van into a group of Muslims near a mosque in Finsbury Park, London, in June 2017, killing one person and injuring several others. In a separate case in November 2018, Robinson publicly accused a Muslim teen, who was a refugee, of being a violent school bully. That teen successfully sued Robinson for libel in 2019 and won in 2021. Robinson’s current prison term stems from that case; he reiterated his claims against the teenager, even after being found guilty of libel.
2. Robinson’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and protests in the U.K. attracted the attention and support of anti-immigrant activists in the U.S.
The EDL’s anti-immigrant views, mostly directed at Muslims, mobilized Britons and attracted support from xenophobic groups in the U.S. At its peak and under Robinson’s leadership, EDL attracted thousands of people, including neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, to anti-Muslim demonstrations, becoming what Media Matters referred to in a 2010 media report as “the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s.” Hope Not Hate reported that EDL created alliances with other anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups in Europe and the United States, “including neo-conservative organisations and the anti-Islam wing of the Tea Party movement.”
Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist who founded the group Stop Islamization of America in 2009, repeatedly praised EDL, and in 2010 wrote in the conservative publication American Thinker that "Free people should support the English Defence League in its efforts to stand for England and the West against the belligerent invaders and Islamic imperialists." Ann Coulter, another American anti-immigration activist, also praised the EDL and Robinson in a 2013 article in the Daily Caller, a conservative publication.
Former Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly gave Robinson a platform to express his views in a 2013 interview, in which Robinson described his anti-Muslim activity as a “fight for Christianity, fight for our children's future, fight for our culture, and fight for our country's identity, which is completely under attack." After serving time in prison for mortgage fraud in 2014, Robinson joined the German anti-immigrant group Pegida, establishing a local branch in England, where he tried (unsuccessfully) to replicate their tactics and strategies.
3. Robinson’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views have drawn support from far-right figures in the U.S.
Far-right figures in the U.S. have expressed admiration and support for Robinson. In 2018, when Robinson was jailed on a contempt of court charge for livestreaming outside a trial of Muslim men charged with grooming British girls (see below), tens of thousands of Britons signed petitions for his release. In addition, many American far-right figures claimed (falsely) that Robinson was arrested because of his comments about Muslims and that British officials violated his free speech rights. Robinson received support in 2018 from a range of figures. Donald Trump, Jr., tweeted, “Don’t let America follow in those footsteps.” Steve Bannon, a former advisor to the Trump administration, told a reporter, “You lose guys like Tommy Robinson you’re not going to have a country.” Daniel Pipes, the head of the conservative think tank Middle East Forum and David Horowitz of the right-wing David Horowitz Foundation, also vocally supported Robinson.
U.S. Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) also bolstered Robinson and made disparaging remarks about Muslims at a pro-Robinson rally in London in July 2018 which attracted thousands of supporters as part of the “Free Tommy” movement. Afterwards, Pipes and Horowitz invited Robinson to the U.S., while Gosar invited Robinson to address the Congressional Conservative Opportunity Society. Robinson was denied a visa after dozens of British Members of Parliament and organizations (including the ADL) warned about the potential rise in extremism and violence among his supporters in the U.K. if he was allowed into the United States.
4. Robinson has a laundry list of criminal activity, including using a false identity, fraud and contempt of court.
Robinson has been arrested and imprisoned numerous times in Great Britain. Most recently, authorities jailed Robinson in October 2024 for 18 months for contempt of court after violating an injunction forbidding him to show “Silenced,” a self-produced documentary that repeated libelous charges Robinson originally made against a Muslim refugee teen in 2018. Robinson publicly labeled the teen a “violent school bully,” and was found guilty of libel.
In 2021, a five-year order of protection was entered against Robinson for stalking a female British journalist who was doing an expose on his handling of supporters’ contributions. In January 2014, Robinson was jailed for 18 months for mortgage fraud. In January 2013, Robinson was sentenced to jail time for trying to enter the U.S. with a false identity document. In July 2011, Robinson was arrested and handed a 12-month community rehabilitation order after he was convicted of leading a brawl involving more than 100 football fans.
5. Robinson’s recent activity demonstrates his ongoing anti-Muslim bigotry.
In January 2022, Robinson created a series of documentaries about the sexual grooming of young girls in Britain. About 1,500 people attended the screening for the first documentary, and he followed up with four more which did not attract as much attention.
While a court injunction prevented him from showing his film, “Silenced,” Robinson moved to Spain in 2023 and subsequently showed a version of the film, released by MICE Media, at a meeting with the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. The meeting was hosted by the Danish People’s Party, a right-wing populist party that focuses on immigration, and The Free Press Society. He also gave numerous interviews about the film, where he repeated his false claims.
Robinson returned to the U.K. in late 2023. After the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, Robinson called on his supporters to protect British monuments from pro-Palestinian marchers during a protest held on Armistice Day (November 11). Robinson, however, allegedly fled the scene when confrontations between his supporters and the police turned violent.
In July 2024, Robinson screened his film “Silenced” to thousands of supporters in London’s Trafalgar Square, declaring that he would not be silenced. In October 2024, he received his jail sentence for violating the injunction to not spread false allegations about the Muslim teen.