Who is Tommy Robinson, a convicted criminal stoking far-right riots in UK?

The killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in the UK early this week sparked race riots, leading to violent clashes between far-right mobs and anti-racism activists.

Nearly 400 people have been arrested since the beginning of the rioting, which has engulfed many private businesses and damaged public properties.

When Anealla Safdar, Europe editor of Al Jazeera Media Network, recently faced racial harassment on a street of an otherwise peaceful English town of Tonbridge, the hecklers shouted “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson”.

The name chanted by a “bunch of white 16-year-olds” sent chills down the spine of Safdar, who was walking in her hometown with her two daughters, aged four and six.

“These are not normal times,” she wrote on social media platform X.

So who’s Tommy Robinson, a name that’s become a rallying cry for white supremacists across the UK?

Born as Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon in 1982 in England, Robinson is a British anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right extremists. He’s also a convicted criminal.

Even though a 17-year-old Briton, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, from Lancashire, is accused of carrying out the attack, white supremacists have continued to target minorities, citing false online claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker of Muslim faith who had arrived in the UK by small boat in 2023.

Here are some facts to know about Robinson, the man accused of stoking and leading the far-right riots from outside the UK.

- Robinson’s upbringing in Luton, a town with significant racial and religious diversity, played a role in shaping his views. His mother was an Irish immigrant. He attended Putteridge High School where, he says, he witnessed “gang activity” that was divided along racial lines.

- His autobiography, Enemy of the State, includes detailed accounts of alleged gang fights. It also reveals personal grievances that include not being invited to the weddings of two Muslim friends, Kamram and Imram, with whom he bonded at school after they raised money to buy a Porsche together.

- He adopted the pseudonym “Tommy Robinson” in 2009, borrowing the name from a well-known Luton Town football hooligan, to separate his extremist activities from his personal life.

- In 2009, Robinson co-founded the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right anti-Islamic organisation, claiming it was a response to the so-called threat of radical Islam in the UK.

- Under Robinson’s leadership, the EDL organised numerous protests and brawls, often marked by violent clashes with counter-protesters and the police. These protests were condemned for promoting anti-Muslim sentiments. In 2011, he was convicted of leading a street brawl involving 100 people and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

- In 2014, Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in prison for mortgage fraud, a charge unrelated to his political activities. He admitted to using false information to obtain a mortgage of more than $200,000 in current terms.

- Robinson left the EDL in October 2013, stating that he no longer wanted to lead a movement that he believed was being overtaken by racist and far-right extremists.

- After leaving the EDL, Robinson began working with Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank and later became a correspondent for the Canadian far-right media outlet Rebel Media.

- Robinson focused much of his post-EDL actvities on exposing and protesting against Muslim grooming gangs in the UK, a controversial topic that he often approached with inflammatory rhetoric.

- In May 2018, Robinson was arrested for live-streaming outside a court during a grooming gang trial, which was under reporting restrictions. He was charged with contempt of court and sentenced to 13 months in prison.

- His imprisonment sparked protests from his supporters, particularly in the UK and the United States, who saw him as a free-speech "martyr". However, many others criticised his actions and termed his far-right movement no more than a rhetorical device to attack democracy.

- Robinson’s initial conviction was quashed on appeal, and he was released from prison in August 2018. However, he was retried for contempt of court, resulting in a nine-month sentence.

- In 2019, Robinson ran as an independent candidate in the European parliamentary elections, representing the North West England constituency. He failed to win a seat, securing only 2.2 percent of the vote.

- Robinson has authored several books and appeared in documentaries on Islam and immigration in the UK. These works are often criticised for spreading misinformation and fueling division.

- Robinson has faced financial difficulties, including being ordered to pay more than $127,000 in damages in 2021 after losing a defamation case brought by a Syrian refugee whom he falsely accused of violent behaviour.

- He’s been banned from Facebook and Instagram for violating their policies on hate speech and promoting extremism. He was also banned from Twitter (now X), but his account was restored after Elon Musk took over the social media platform.

- Despite these setbacks, Robinson continues to be active as he releases videos online, often through alternative platforms or through supporters who share his content.

- Robinson was sunbathing in Greek-administered Cyprus as his admirers set alight a hotel that housed asylum seekers in the English town of Rotherham. He fled Britain late last month to put himself beyond the reach of authorities in the UK, where he was due to be in court over alleged contempt proceedings.