British activist Tommy Robinson was stopped by police at Heathrow Airport on Saturday under counter-terrorism law. The detention came during a week in which Robinson had gained significant attention on social media platforms.
Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was stopped and had his phones seized under Section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Border Security Act 2019. The law gives police officers at ports and borders the power to stop, question, search and detain individuals suspected of travelling in connection with planning or carrying out hostile acts.
Robinson claimed on social media that he was held for nearly three hours and that officers took both his iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones during the stop. He also used the opportunity to ask his supporters to contribute money toward his legal defence.
A spokesperson for Robinson posted on X, framing the detention as an attack on free speech and investigative journalism, and suggesting that authorities were seeking to identify his sources and contacts.
“Whilst our borders are open, whilst terrorist are coming in, Sudanese migrants are coming in trying to hack peoples heads off and rape our women and daughters, Tommy has been detained under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 and had his personal possessions seized in order for the UK government to get intelligence,” the post read.
“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 post continued.
“The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 is there to stop and investigate people who are travelling to plan, prepare and carry out hostile acts. So the UK government must think he’s actually a terrorist planning to hurt British people, OR they don’t want to be exposed for the child raping facilitators they are. What do you think?” the post concluded.
The Metropolitan Police declined to comment when approached by The Guardian, and it was not publicly known what specifically prompted the stop.
A Week of Rising Prominence
The detention came at the end of a particularly high-profile week for Robinson, 43. He had been at the center of growing 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.
Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, led protests in Southampton in response to the footage. Those demonstrations turned violent, with clashes between rioters and police resulting in 13 officers and a police dog being injured.
He also shared footage on social media showing a man, believed to be a Sudanese asylum seeker, holding a knife over another man he had pinned to the ground in Belfast in what was described as a suspected attempted murder that took place on Monday.
Robinson posted details of planned demonstrations across Britain and Northern Ireland on X. Elon Musk, who has 240 million followers on the platform, shared the post with his audience.