Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was detained by police at Heathrow Airport on Saturday under counter-terrorism laws. This action came after a week in which the far-right activist gained further prominence on social media against a backdrop of racial tensions in Britain.
It is understood that Robinson was stopped and had his phones seized under Section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Border Security Act 2019. He used social media to claim he was detained for nearly three hours and that his iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones were confiscated. He also appealed to his supporters for donations to fund his legal defense.
A spokesperson for Robinson posted on X: "They likely want to see who he is talking to, and maybe find out who his sources are, sources who will expose politicians for their part in the rape of a generation of British girls. This is an attack on free speech, this is an attack on investigative journalism, nothing more nothing less."
The 2019 act grants police officers at ports the authority to stop, question, search, and detain individuals suspected of traveling to plan, prepare, or carry out hostile acts. The specific reason for the stop remains unknown, and the Metropolitan Police declined to comment when approached.
Robinson, 43, recently rose to prominence amid racial tensions across Britain, following the release of police bodycam footage showing the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak while in police custody in Southampton. The former English Defence League leader spearheaded protests in the Hampshire city, where clashes between rioters and police resulted in 13 officers and a police dog being injured.
He also amplified footage of an incident in Belfast on Monday, where a man believed to be a Sudanese refugee wielded a knife over another man he had pinned to the ground in a suspected attempted murder. Robinson posted details of planned demonstrations across Britain and Northern Ireland on X, a post that was shared by Elon Musk to his 240 million followers.
In July 2024, Robinson was cleared of a terror charge after refusing to provide police access to his phone during a stop at the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, where he was driving a friend's silver Bentley to Benidorm, Spain. He argued that the device contained confidential journalistic material, and a district judge concluded that the legality of the police stop could not be confirmed.
