(AFP) – British far-right activist Tommy Robinson announced he had visited the US State Department on Wednesday, as the Trump administration ramps up its criticism of European allies over speech restrictions and has sided with far-right parties across the continent.
“In America making alliances & friendships, today I had the privilege of an invite to the @StateDept,” Robinson wrote on X, with a photo apparently taken from a balcony of the State Department headquarters in Washington. US official Joe Rittenhouse added in a post on X he was “honored to have” Robinson at the State Department, calling the British activist a “free speech warrior.”
“The World and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy,” wrote Rittenhouse, an advisor in the State Department’s consular affairs office.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, boasts a significant online following and is a highly contentious figure in Britain, spearheading a fervent anti-Muslim and anti-migrant agenda. The 43-year-old former football hooligan increasingly fuses those themes with claims that Britain is now hostile to free speech.
In September, the self-described journalist drew around 150,000 people onto London’s streets for one of the country’s largest far-right protests ever. He has faced a string of criminal convictions, including for mortgage fraud, public order and contempt of court, dating back decades. Robinson was jailed in the UK in 2013 for using someone else’s passport to enter the United States, which had refused him entry because of drug offences.
Illegal immigration has been a key issue for US President Donald Trump, under whom authorities have carried out a wide-ranging deportation drive that advocacy groups say has often violated people’s rights. Robinson has also been blamed for helping to fuel anti-migrant riots that rocked the United Kingdom in 2024, something he denies.
The State Department declined to comment when asked by AFP about Robinson’s visit.
© 2024 AFP
