Billionaire Elon Musk has waded into the row over Tommy Robinson’s alleged ‘arrest under anti-terror laws’ – as flag-waving demonstrators formed a protest in London today.
The Tesla CEO used his X platform to question why Robinson had been arrested, tweeting: ‘What did he do that was considered terrorism?’
Robinson’s verified social media accounts this morning claimed that he had been detained by police under ‘anti-terror laws’. It added that the English Defence League (EDL) founder is to be ‘charged with terror offences’ tonight.
Although protesters gathered outside the Met Police’s Scotland Yard HQ, the force has insisted that it had no involvement in his arrest.
Bedfordshire Police, who have had dealings with Robinson in the past and cover the area where is believed to live, have also denied any involvement.
Around 70 protesters gathered outside Downing Street to voice their anger at Robinson’s alleged arrest. The rally also briefly moved to Scotland Yard, where the crows listened to speeches, but activists then returned to Whitehall.
Protesters shouted ‘release Tommy now’ and ‘we want Tommy out, we want Tommy out’, as tourists gathered around filming the men outside the Downing Street gates.
There appeared to be several teenage boys shouting ‘oh, Tommy Robinson’ as more than 20 police officers gathered around the growing crowd. One man carried a large Union flag and another an England flag.
Protesters were overheard shouting about conspiracy theories including that the country is being controlled by a ‘deep state’.
One man held a large England flag on a pole, which read ‘Jesus is our God’.
Four protesters held a several-metre long printed banner that had a photo of Robinson with tape over his mouth and ‘freetommy’ beneath.
Several said they did not know where Robinson was arrested.
Dozens of protesters crowded around and loudly chanted ‘Tommy Robinson’ at a young woman who said his film of a Syrian schoolboy was libelous.
The woman appeared to be filming on a phone as she made the comments and was escorted away by police.
As she walked away, the crowd turned and pointed at her, repeatedly shouting ‘oh Tommy Robinson’, with one apparently teenage boy shouting ‘f*** Palestine’.
Two men were seen wearing ‘make America great again’ hats.
One man held up a T-shirt printed with a black-and-white photograph of Robinson with his mouth taped over and the text ‘£freetommy’.
A man who appears to have organised the protest was warned by police that protesters were blocking the highway and access to Downing Street, and risked being removed.
An officer told him ‘we want to work with you’ to allow the protest.
Protesters moved from outside Downing Street to Scotland Yard, the Met Police HQ, at 5pm.
One of the apparent organisers compared the treatment of Robinson to the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump.
He shouted from a bench beside the Scotland Yard sign: ‘Today they are attempting to assassinate Tommy Robinson and we must stop them.’
The protesters returned to the Downing Street gates shortly before 6pm after spending about an hour listening to speeches outside Scotland Yard.
Ahead of the protest, the Met Police said today: ‘Met officers are not involved in the alleged arrest of Tommy Robinson and we are not aware of any links with the demonstration held yesterday in London.
‘This matter involves another force and we hope that further information will be released soon.
‘We are aware of posts online encouraging people to protest in London in relation to this issue. Any such protest must be lawful. We will deploy officers as required to prevent serious disruption or disorder and to deal with any incidents.’
It comes less than 24 hours after Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, took part in a massive rally at Trafalgar Square which saw thousands of his supporters flood the streets of London.
Robinson was warned he could face prison after screening a banned film to thousands of his supporters at the event.
A complaint was later made over a film which was allegedly shown to the crowd in breach of a High Court order, with police saying officers were making further inquiries.
Robinson also on Saturday afternoon posted a one hour 45 minute film on X, in which he said he had previously avoided publishing the video because he was ‘scared’.
A post put out by his official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, this afternoon said: ‘EMERGENCY ADMIN POST – PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE!!!!
‘We can confirm that Tommy Robinson has been detained by Police using powers afforded to them under the Terrorism Act 2000.
‘That’s right, you read that correctly, Tommy is being held by Police using counter terrorism legislation.
‘We will update you as and when we can.’
Following the announcement a number of protesters are gathering outside Downing Street protesting the reported arrest of Tommy Robinson.
One man carried a large Union flag and another an England flag outside the gates.
Men shouted ‘release Tommy now’ and ‘we want Tommy out, we want Tommy out’, while tourists crowded around filming on their phones.
The former English Defence League leader made the claim a day after thousands of his supporters marched through central London before gathering in Trafalgar Square for his ‘Uniting The Kingdom’ rally.
The event, billed by the 41-year-old as the ‘biggest patriotic rally the UK has ever seen’, saw Robinson and others give speeches.
The crowd was also shown a documentary called Silenced – about a Syrian refugee Jamal Hijazi being assaulted by another pupil in the playground at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield – despite a judge previously calling it contempt of court.
Mr Hijazi successfully sued Robinson in 2021 for libel after false claims were made about him, including that the then-teenager had attacked girls in his school. Robinson was ordered to pay him £100,000 in damages plus costs.
After the screening yesterday Robinson had challenged the authorities to ‘take him to court’.
Posting on his X account, he wrote: ‘I’ll be jailed for two years for showing the inconceivable truth.’
He was already due before the High Court on Tuesday accused of contempt for making the film.
Robinson screened it at the rally despite the injunction banning him from repeating the claims made in it.
In response to a complaint about the film on X on Saturday evening, the Met said: ‘We did not know what films would be shown during the event. Organisers of protests are not required to share those details in advance. There is no power for us to compel them to do so.
‘Officers on duty for the event couldn’t reasonably have been aware of civil proceedings ongoing in relation to a particular film, but having now been made aware we’re making further inquiries to determine what action we need to take.’
On Saturday night the force revealed that nine people had been arrested in relation to the event, which saw hundreds of counter-demonstrators flood the streets at the same time.
Among those detained were two men taken into custody after an anti-racism protester was attacked as the counter-rally, organised by Stand Up To Racism, marched towards Whitehall.
The victim received a head injury was taken to hospital after the incident in Victoria Embankment Gardens.
Police saying the pair – who are believed to have been part of the Tommy Robinson protest – had been taken into custody on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Four people were arrested outside a pub in Whitehall on suspicion of assault on emergency workers. Four Met officers were assaulted.
One man was also held on suspicion of criminal damage and a racially aggravated public order offence after allegedly snapping a Palestinian flag and making a racially abusive remark, while another was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after a police officer was kicked, the force said.
The police had already used powers under the Public Order Act to try to keep the opposing groups apart amid fears of serious disruption.