Elon Musk Demands Release of Jailed Far-Right Activist
Fresh off a successful political power grab in America, Elon Musk is now making overtures to far-right reactionaries across the pond by demanding the release of imprisoned British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.
“Free Tommy Robinson!” Musk wrote Wednesday on X. Robinson, whose given name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is currently serving an 18-month sentence for violating a court order by repeating libelous claims against Jamal Hijazi, a young Syrian refugee who Robinson baselessly accused of having attacked two young girls.
In 2018, Hijazi was assaulted by a 16-year-old boy at the Almondbury Community School in West Yorkshire. The boy held Hijazi, whose arm had been broken in a previous assault, down by the neck while attempting to waterboard him. “I’ll drown you,” the boy said in a video of the incident. The case drew national attention in the U.K., leading Robinson to falsely claim that Hijazi had previously attacked two girls. In a libel lawsuit brought by Hijazi, Robinson was found guilty and ordered to pay ￡100,000 in damages, as well as cover the legal fees of the plaintiff.
In the aftermath of the ruling, Robinson partnered with Infowars — conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ cesspool of defamatory misinformation — to produce a “documentary” about his role in the Almondbury Community School case. The film, titled Silence, repeats the false claims against Hijazi. Robinson describes the legal case against him as the “story about how the law is being manipulated and exploited by the far left and Islamists to destroy the lives of anyone who speaks out against the so-called progressive, so-called liberal narrative.”
Musk today encouraged his followers on X to view the film, promoting it several times on her personal profile.
“Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?” Musk wrote in one post. “He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell.”
Robinson, a prominent British extremist, has long been known for his anti-Muslim views, and his role in founding the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right organization that targeted the Islamic religion and Muslims in the U.K. Robinson was previously a member of the British National Party, a fascist political party that once demanded only white Britons be considered citizens of the United Kingdom. In 2019, Robinson was banned from Facebook and Instagram over his encouragement of followers to “make war” on Muslims, and promoting content targeting religious minorities.
Musk’s support for Robinson is not his only recent brush with European extremism. Earlier this week, Musk drew additional backlash after endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as the “last spark of hope” for Germany. The nationalist, anti-immigrant party — which is linked to extremists and neo-Nazis — has grown in prominence within Germany amid the wave of conservative populism enveloping nations in the post-pandemic era.
As federal elections near, German officials are less than pleased at Musk’s attempts to weigh in on the nation’s politics.
“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” Christiane Hoffmann, a German government spokesperson, said on Monday. “After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense.”
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