The British Trial That Became a Free-Speech Crusade for the Right
An anti-Muslim activist claims he was silenced for his views. But the truth isn’t so sinister.
His fans see him as a poster boy for freedom of speech, and his detractors as a far-right agitator. But on Wednesday, Tommy Robinson and his supporters prevailed when a British court let him out of jail, where he’d landed after livestreaming from outside of a criminal trial in violation of court-ordered media restrictions on reporting on the case. That case, which dealt with child sex abuse by members of the South Asian community, was one Robinson, who has previously been involved in anti-Muslim protests and incitement, tried to hold up as emblematic. “Do we have the prison places to deal with all of the men—all of the Muslim men who have raped across this country?” he
