Thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters and free speech advocates around the world took to the streets for a second week of protests against the imprisonment of the UK journalist and political activist. Robinson was arrested on May 25 outside Leeds Crown Court for reporting on a pedophile grooming trial. After a brief court proceeding in which he did not have access to his lawyer, Robinson was handed a 13-month prison sentence for violating the terms of a suspended sentence on a similar offense.
Demonstrations were held in Britain, Germany, the United States and several other countries. Around 400 people gathered outside Leeds Crown Court on Saturday for a march through the city center, while approximately 1,000 filled the streets of Manchester for a #FreeTommy demonstration, reported to have been spearheaded by the Democratic Football Lad’s Alliance.
Amazing scenes in Manchester at the #FreeTommy protest. pic.twitter.com/RnqriQj5Ai
— Politicalite.com (@politicaliteuk) June 3, 2018
EDL Tommy Robinson outside Leeds Crown Court right now pic.twitter.com/ku6xnFwEr3
— Jake (@JB7071) June 1, 2018
Germans gathered in Nuremberg to show their support for Robinson, while a crowd also protested outside the UK embassy in Denmark:
#FreeTommy protest outside UK embassy in #Denmark people around the globe are rising for #TommyRobinson Over half a million signed petition to #FreeTommyRobinson .on the 9th June the biggest protest ever in the uk at downing street is happening be there
via @DAYFORFREEDOM4 pic.twitter.com/Z95xJttl44
— Trad American Angel
(@RightWingAngel) May 30, 2018
Across the pond, a rainy Sunday protest was held outside the British Embassy in Washington DC.
The rain did not deter us #FreeTommyRobinson DC pic.twitter.com/aFuj00ptsp
— Jack Posobiec
(@JackPosobiec) June 3, 2018
#FreeTommy pic.twitter.com/X79sgIBBym
— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) June 3, 2018
#FreeTommy pic.twitter.com/LcHewGiho2
— Mark
Youtuber @ashtonbirdie speaks out about #TommyRobinson arrest and #FreeTommy protest led by @JackPosobiec. pic.twitter.com/2332FlQ0S3
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 3, 2018
Robinson was admonished last year by Judge Heather Norton for filming outside a gang rape case in Canterbury, who slapped him with a three month suspended sentence on the condition that he cease his coverage of the trials.
you should be under no illusions that if you commit any further offence of any kind, and that would include, I would have thought a further contempt of court by similar actions, then that sentence of three months would be activated -Judge Heather Norton
“This is not about free speech, not about the freedom of the press, nor about legitimate journalism, and not about political correctness,” the judge told Robinson at the time.
Robinson’s prior offense is what gave Judge Geoffrey Marson QC justification to lock him away within hours of his arrest. Disturbingly, Marson also ordered an Orwellian media blackout – which resulted in several publications deleting their articles from the web covering Robinson’s arrest.
The most terrifying video you’ll see today. https://t.co/Vb8yNpZNCo
— Mike Cernovich
The reporting ban was eventually lifted.
Pedophile grooming gangs
As we previously reported, a group of 29 defendants are being tried for historical sex offences against children, split into three trials. Robinson was arrested at the second trial, while the first is ongoing.
Enraged Britons have been harassing the defendants as they make their way into court for the ongoing trials.
Robinson, 35, rose to fame as a conservative activist and founder of the English Defence League in Luton, Bedfordshire in 2009. After retiring from the party in 2013, he has continued to advocate for British nationalism and against unchecked migration into Europe.
He has also taken a particular interest in the grooming gang trials – a topic seldom covered by the mainstream press, and which Robinson has been speaking out about since at least 2011.
the whole subject is so ugly and uncomfortable that very few people care to linger over it. Robinson is an exception. For him — as he said in a 2011 interview with the BBC’s Jeremy Paxman — the “grooming gangs” issue isn’t something that afflicts some far-off towns but people in the working-class communities that he knows. And while there are journalists (notably the Times’ Andrew Norfolk) who have spent considerable time and energy bringing this appalling phenomenon to light, most of British society has turned away in a combination of embarrassment, disgust, and uncertainty about how to even talk about this. Anyone who thinks Britain is much further along with dealing with the taboo of “grooming gangs” should remember that only last year the Labour MP for Rotherham, Sarah Champion, had to leave the shadow cabinet because she accurately identified the phenomenon. –National Review
Another large protest is scheduled for June 9th at Downing street. Follow along using Twitter hashtag #FreeTommy
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