Yes, Elon Musk’s latest infatuation is with Tommy Robinson, the UK’s most infamous – and, seemingly, most influential – Islamophobe. Musk rang in the new year not with well wishes to humanity or his own hopes for a peaceful future, but with bizarre and multiple calls to “free Tommy Robinson” from prison. (He even made one of them his pinned tweet!)

While many in Britain are aware of exactly who Tommy Robinson is, many in the United States and elsewhere are unfamiliar with his pronouncements and his past. Ridiculously, many of Musk’s followers now seem to believe Robinson is some sort of martyr for free speech: a political prisoner in a UK overrun with Muslim rape gangs! A prominent US Republican senator has even thrown his weight behind calls for Robinson’s release.

So, as the Tesla boss continues to cozy up to the far-right in the US, the UK, Germany, and beyond, here are five things you should know about his new pal Tommy Robinson, someone so extreme that even Musk’s former pal Nigel Farage won’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.

1. He Is a Violent Islamophobe

Despite claiming that he solely stands against Islamist extremism, much of Robinson’s rhetoric has centered around attacking all Muslims, not just the extremists.

At a protest in 2011, Robinson referenced the July 7 London bombings by al-Qaeda suicide bombers that killed 52 people and injured hundreds more and issued this threat: “Every single Muslim watching this… on 7/7 you got away with killing and maiming British citizens… the Islamic community will feel the full force of the English Defence League if we see any of our citizens killed, maimed, or hurt on British soil ever again.”

Robinson has also been a key figure in fearmongering over refugees from the Middle East. In 2016, he established the British chapter of the German far-right group, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), advocating for a complete ban on Muslim immigration to the UK, dubbing it a “Muslim invasion of Europe.” He claimed that Muslim immigrants were “harassing women, they’re raping women, they’re culturally and ideologically, not going to assimilate.”

While PEGIDA UK never gained much traction, Robinson has continued to attack Islam, recently even describing it as a “fascist, violent ideology which masquerades as a religion,” while continuing to call for the mass deportation of Muslim immigrants from Europe.

Perhaps most worrying of all, the wife of Darren Osborne, the Islamophobic convicted terrorist who killed 51-year-old British Muslim Makram Ali when he drove his car into a crowd of worshippers outside a mosque in London in 2017, has said that Osborne was “brainwashed” and had “been watching a lot of Tommy Robinson stuff on the internet.” The UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer stated that there was “no doubt” that “extremist rhetoric” from Robinson and others helped radicalize Osborne and turn him violent.

2. Tommy Robinson Isn’t His Real Name

Born in the English town of Luton in 1982, “Stephen Christopher Yaxley,” the UK’s most famous bigot, has taken on several different aliases before finally settling on Tommy Robinson. The series of name changes first began when Robinson hyphenated his surname to Yaxley-Lennon after being adopted by his stepfather, Thomas Lennon.

As he rose to prominence among the far-right, Robinson became a leading figure in the self-proclaimed anti-Islamist group, United People of Luton. In 2009, he was quoted as a spokesperson for the group under the alias “Wayne King” – a name that would likely land well among a group of middle-school boys. According to the Morning Star, Robinson dropped “Wayne” and briefly became “Mickey King.”

Robinson then went on to co-found the English Defence League, or the EDL – a far-right, anti-Muslim street movement. This is when he finally landed upon “Tommy Robinson,” borrowing the name from a violent Luton Town football hooligan.

And yet, the plot thickens.

In 2013, Robinson was convicted of possessing a false identity document after using a friend’s passport to illegally enter the US. He traveled back to the UK a day later using his real passport, which donned the name “Paul Harris.” Upon his sentencing, the judge told him,“I am going to sentence you under the name of Stephen Lennon, although I suspect that is not actually your true name, in the sense that it is not the name that appears on your passport.”

3. He’s a Serial Criminal

Besides the identity fraud, Robinson is clearly no stranger to run-ins with the law, and despite most people knowing him for his recent sentencing, his criminal record actually stretches back two decades.

In 2005, Robinson was convicted of assaulting an off-duty police officer, whom he kicked in the head as the officer tried to break up a fight between him and his then-girlfriend. He was sentenced to a year in prison.

He was once again convicted of assault in 2011, after head-butting a fellow EDL protester during a rally in Blackburn.

The very same year, he was also found guilty of leading a brawl involving about 100 football fans. He was given a one-year community rehabilitation order, a three-year football ban, 150 hours of unpaid work, and a £650 ($1,000) fine.

In 2012, Robinson was charged with mortgage fraud alongside five other defendants. He pleaded guilty in 2014, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2021, Robinson was hit with a five-year stalking protection order after stalking and harassing journalist Lizzie Dearden, who was writing a story about his alleged misuse of financial donations from his supporters.

4. He’s a Fanboy for Russia and Israel

Yes, you read that right. Despite being a die-hard English nationalist, Robinson has proudly aligned himself with Russia and Israel.

In 2020, Robinson went on a Russian media tour, and in an interview with popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, he praised Putin, saying, “Russians see Putin as the defender of their country. He is a strong politician. The West doesn’t have enough strong men. Western politicians are emasculated.”

He added that he would like to grab a beer with Putin and ask him to let him host a Russian TV show.

But Robinson’s trip to Russia wasn’t solely for publicity. Rather, a New York Times investigation uncovered that Robinson was exploring options to open an offshore account and move his assets amid a heated legal battle (see No. 5). Robinson has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Robinson also considers himself a proud Zionist, and in 2019 stated that if there were a war in the Middle East, he would “be there on the front line, fighting for Israel.” (Robinson later clarified that the comments were banter he made when he was drunk.) But with his current prison sentence, it looks like he missed his opportunity.

However, he did issue this self-serving warning amid Israel’s current genocidal assault on Gaza: “If they killed all the Jews, if they won the war and took Israel, they are not stopping there. They are coming straight for Europe. They’re already in Europe.”Share

5. He Isn’t in Prison for “Telling the Truth”

Elon Musk claims that Robinson is a political prisoner jailed for “telling the truth.”

Elon Musk isn’t telling the truth.

Robinson is in prison for contempt of court stemming from a case where he was found to have libeled a 15-year-old Syrian schoolboy, Jamal Hijazi. In 2018, a video of Hijazi being attacked at school went viral. Robinson circulated the video, and claimed that Hijazii had attacked “young English girls” and threatened to stab a boy. The disinformation spread like wildfire across social media, opening a floodgate of threats that ultimately caused Hijazi and his family to relocate.

In 2021, Robinson was found guilty of defaming Hijazi, and was ordered to pay £100,000 ($130,000) in damages. He also was given an injunction, barring him from ever repeating the false claims.

But this proved to be a massive issue for Robinson, who made a ‘documentary’ – financed by fellow-defamer Alex Jones’s InfoWars – about the case. The film peddled the same false claims he was found guilty of making, and thus, in October 2024, he was held in contempt of court.

Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to contempt through 10 breaches of the injunction.

But, of course, it doesn’t end there, because Elon Musk is now doing Robinson’s dirty work. On Jan. 1, Musk shared Robinson’s full ‘documentary,’ amplifying it to his over 211 million followers and garnering an additional 74 million views for it.

To be clear, this is a dangerous moment for Western democracies: the world’s richest man and top adviser to the US president-elect is not only promoting a man who has defamed people with tragic consequences, but doing PR work on his social media platform for a violent Islamophobe, serial criminal, and Putin fanboy who has been accused of inspiring a terrorist attack.

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