Right-wing campaigner Tommy Robinson could be jailed for showing a banned film at the protest
Thousands of people marched through London on Saturday in a large-scale demonstration organized by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson. Multiple arrests were made after some protesters clashed with police and left-wing counter-demonstrators.
Billed as the “biggest patriotic rally the UK has ever seen,” Robinson’s ‘Uniting the Kingdom’ march drew crowds of Union Jack-wearing demonstrators to the British capital. The march set off from the Royal Courts of Justice – where Robinson was arrested for refusing to leave a pro-Israel demonstration in November – and concluded at Trafalgar Square, where Robinson and other activists delivered speeches.
While most attendees sang patriotic slogans such as “England ‘till I die” many chanted anti-Islam slogans such as “Who the f**k is Allah?” and “You can stick your f**king Islam up your arse.”
Robinson drew heavily on anti-immigrant and anti-Islam themes, telling supporters that Britons would be “replaced no longer,” and describing the existence of Pakistani ‘grooming gangs’ as a “stain” on Britain’s history.
Robinson claimed that 100,000 people showed up at the rally, but this figure could not be verified.
A group of left-wing protesters assembled at nearby Whitehall, and were kept apart from Robinson’s followers by police. Some scuffles were reported, however, and police officers arrested two men for allegedly attacking a leftist demonstrator. Two more men were arrested for “racially aggravated public order” offenses, while on the left-wing side, four people were arrested at a pub in Whitehall for allegedly assaulting police officers.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that they would investigate “racist and anti-Muslim” language used by Robinson’s followers.
In a video posted to his X account after the rally, Robinson described the day as an “absolute success.” However, his decision to end the event with a screening of his documentary ‘Silenced’ could potentially result in a jail sentence.
Robinson was ordered by a judge not to release the film, in which he claims that a Syrian student who was attacked at a Yorkshire secondary school in 2018 had a lengthy record of attacking female students. Robinson was sued for libel by the student, Jamal Hijazi, and ordered to pay £100,000 ($128,500) in damages in 2021.
“I’ll be jailed for two years for showing the inconceivable truth,” Robinson told the crowd in London. The activist is already due in court on Tuesday, where he faces contempt charges for releasing the documentary.
