Elon Musk Faces Fury Over Support for Jailed Fascist Leader

Elon Musk faced an angry backlash after calling for the release from prison of a far-right British activist.

The world’s richest man tweeted “Free Tommy Robinson” to his 210 million X followers on Thursday.

Musk also said a controversial anti-establishment documentary by Robinson was “worth watching.”

Robinson’s real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, but he took the name of Robinson after a notorious soccer hooligan who followed his hometown team in Luton, England. He is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for breaching a High Court injunction in the United Kingdom.

The order barred him from repeating libelous slurs against a Syrian refugee.

Robinson, a member of the fascist British National Party and founder of the English Defence League, is a prominent anti-Islam campaigner. His jail sentence stems from a court case brought against him for libel by a refugee Syrian student who was attacked by another teenager at school in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Robinson subsequently posted a video containing untrue allegations that the refugee was a violent thug.

The schoolboy—Jamal Hijazi—won £100,000 (about $123,600) in damages in 2021 after the High Court in London ruled that Robinson had defamed the pupil, who was forced to move home with his family after receiving death threats.

But Robinson continued discussing the claims and posted a documentary film online saying that he’d been “silenced” by the state.

In October this year, Robinson was imprisoned after admitting to 10 breaches of the order barring him from repeating the false allegations.

Musk’s apparent support for Robinson comes after he offered his support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

It is also the latest salvo in his long-running feud with the British government and particularly current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has criticized for not doing enough to prevent child grooming gangs in the country when he was chief prosecutor.

British politicians condemned the billionaire. One unnamed Minister of Parliament told Politico they considered Musk’s language dangerous, adding: “At a time when communities need to come and work together, we have someone with a lot of influence sowing divisions and spreading hate.”

“Musk’s support not just for Tommy Robinson, but also the AfD in Germany, shows just how big a problem he is for democracy as well as the reputation of those who cozy up to him like Nigel Farage and Liz Truss,” added Labour MP Stella Creasy, referring to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a fervent Trump supporter, and former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has previously spoken of her support for the Tesla founder.