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Move over, Milo. The alt-right and its Muslim-bashing 鈥淚dentitarian鈥� cohort have found a new 鈥渇ree speech鈥� martyr.

Tommy Robinson 鈥� the nom de plume of 35-year-old Stephen Yaxley-Lennon of Luton, Bedfordshire, and the founder of the far-right English Defence League 鈥� was arrested outside a British courthouse in Leeds late last week for breaking a court order barring coverage outside a hearing, after he had livestreamed activity outside the court for over an hour.

Robinson had been agitating for a legal confrontation for some time over his attempts to whip up public anger at Muslims over the criminal trials of members of child sex-abuse rings called 鈥済rooming gangs鈥� allegedly engaged in exploiting young girls. A year before, of violating the UK鈥檚 tough contempt-of-court laws for filming outside another trial involving such gangs, but the judge in that case suspended his sentence so that he served no jail time.

When he appeared last week outside the courthouse in Leeds to livestream his attempts to cover the proceedings, Robinson mainly could be seen harassing people entering the court from the street. After about an hour, he was confronted by police there and told he was being arrested for 鈥渁 breach of the peace,鈥� and was later charged with contempt of court for ignoring court orders prohibiting news coverage outside the courthouse.

The laws under which Robinson was arrested, as , have been in place since the early 1980s, and permit judges to prevent news coverage of criminal trials that might taint the deliberations and force a retrial in the case.

Moreover, as , these laws are in place as much to protect prosecutors from having their case harmed, or convictions overturned on appeal, through the contamination of the jury because of media activity, as to protect defendants. That is, the court blackout which Robinson attempted to ignore was in place to ensure that if the suspects are indeed convicted, that conviction will be less likely to be upended.

鈥淭he arrest and imprisonment of Stephen Lennon was correct and his actions made justice for the victims of violent sexual assault less likely,鈥� Dr. Joe Mulhall of the anti-hate organization Hope Not Hate explained to Hatewatch. 鈥淟eading figures within the UK far right have sought to exploit his arrest and the issue of grooming more generally. The result has been a genuine anger among normal activists. The reality of his actions have been ignored and replaced by a decontextualised and simplified version of events that has whipped up dangerous anger, manifest at the hostile demonstration outside Downing Street at the weekend.鈥�

On Saturday, turned out on London鈥檚 Whitehall to protest the arrest, gathering in front of the prime minister鈥檚 residence at Downing Street, where they engaged in minor brawling with police. in London at Hyde Park鈥檚 Speakers Corner also protested the arrest.

monitored the protests, and reported that Saturday鈥檚 Whitehall protest attracted a number of Identitarians and alt-right 鈥淧epe鈥� shirts and Donald Trump 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� ballcaps. The crowd, , was 鈥渋n an ugly mood,鈥� and eventually 鈥渟cum, scum, scum鈥� at the police.

The protests continued with a mass gathering in Leeds on Thursday that attracted about 500 protesters, according to .

Robinson鈥檚 past

Robinson is a fixture on the British radical right. His English Defence League, created in 2009 as a nativist anti-Muslim organization, formed alliances with Islamophobic groups around the globe, including Pamela Geller鈥檚 hate group Stop Islamization of America. It also was eventually connected to Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, who reportedly exchanged emails with one of its leaders.

In 2013, after being arrested for taking an illegal trip to the United States, Robinson in a high-profile interview, saying it had become too extreme and that for causing fear to Muslims. He also later that year to mortgage fraud, and in 2017 with a man with whom he had gotten into a verbal dispute, though no charges resulted. In 2018, he was permanently for posting that 鈥淚slam promotes killing people.鈥�

In recent years he has become one of the leading figures of the white-nationalist European 鈥淚dentitarian鈥� movement, which has been garnering increasing support from the American 鈥渁lt lite,鈥� particularly Breitbart News. A rally led by Robinson earlier this year resulted in several 鈥渁lt lite鈥� and Identitarian figures being when they attempted to attend.

Right-wing voices spin Robinson鈥檚 story

Robinson鈥檚 arrest also caught the attention of numerous right-wing activists and conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones鈥� Infowars program. After his arrest, Robinson鈥檚 case became the leading cause c茅l猫bre of the far right, and a new source for a whole set of conspiracy theories.

Their rallying cry: 鈥淔ree Tommy!鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about an iron curtain of censorship that鈥檚 taking place, at multiple levels, of a total power grab, the political correctness, where they arrest police chiefs that talk about Muslim rapes in Sweden, where the Stasi has been reactivated and works for Facebook, you can鈥檛 make this up, to arrest people that criticize Islam,鈥� explained Jones in his daily Infowars broadcast.

Supporters of Robinson included , who in a tweet called his arrest 鈥淩eason #1776 for the original #brexit. Don鈥檛 let America follow in those footsteps.鈥�

American-based right-wing media promptly picked up the story, led by on Saturday that described Robinson as a 鈥渓ongtime activist against Islam and Islamic migration.鈥� The right-wing One American News network also chimed in over the weekend with a , describing Robinson as an 鈥淓nglish culture activist.鈥�

The story spread across other 听American right-wing media and conspiracy sites, particularly at Infowars, where breathless reports from London, featuring correspondent Caolan Robertson, who told Jones: 鈥淪omething very different has happened, and that鈥檚 that people are now absolutely furious about this. There鈥檚 an electricity, almost, in the air of people who have had enough completely of all of it.鈥�

He continued: 鈥淭his is completely unprecedented, and people can see straight through it, and you can feel the tension in the air in this country right now. You can cut it with a knife. It鈥檚 so intense, it鈥檚 quite scary, actually, seeing where this could go, and if any harm comes to him, I can predict mass violence across the UK, I can predict towns brought to a standstill.鈥�

Infowars contributor Ben Garrison created a cartoon showing Robinson being hauled off to prison by a 鈥済lobalist PC police鈥� officer on one arm and 鈥淢uslim pedophiles, rapists, and murderers鈥� on the other. At David Horowitz鈥檚 Front Page magazine, as a 鈥減olitical prisoner鈥� and 鈥渙ne of Britain鈥檚 most prominent human rights activists.鈥�

There was some coverage from mainstream conservative writers, most notably Douglas Murray at , who dismissed Robinson鈥檚 record of violence, fraud and race-baiting and portrayed him instead as a brave (if problematic) voice speaking out against the despicable behavior of the 鈥済rooming gangs.鈥�

American 鈥渁lt lite鈥� figures on social media also loudly promoted the story. Provocateur Gavin McInnes, the 鈥淧roud Boys鈥� founder whose brand of politics has proven to be a major alt-right recruitment path, underscored his increasing affinity for Identitarian ideology by hosting a special of his 鈥淕et Off My Lawn鈥� podcast.

Like Robertson, he waxed paranoid about Robinson鈥檚 well-being behind bars. 鈥淭his is the media class and the elites not trying to silence Tommy 鈥� that鈥檚 the best case scenario for us,鈥� he told his audience. 鈥淭hey want him dead. They want to murder him. So we鈥檙e not up against someone who wants to edit some of Tommy鈥檚 journalism.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not what our adversaries are up to 鈥� our adversaries want to not silence speech, [but] kill the person talking. And that will be a huge victory for them. So the reaction has been very good on our side of things. We鈥檝e said, 鈥楴o, you鈥檙e not going to kill Tommy 鈥� we鈥檙e going to kill you! We鈥檙e going to fight back!鈥欌�� If something happens to Tommy, it is going to go off.鈥�

On Friday, he would attend a 鈥淔ree Tommy鈥� rally in downtown New York City.

鈥淣ot only are you showing support for Tommy, you are showing support for freedom!鈥� one of his commenters. 鈥淎nd they want to take away firearms... Who will be the next Tommy?鈥�

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