Free Tommy Violence - Now The Excuses

After yesterday’s protest in London at the jailing of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, for contempt of court after he had been warned what would happen if he did it again, has come a period of contemplation - where the far-right begins to realise it got this one badly wrong. The claim that others were disrespecting the rule of law did not look good when Lennon’s followers were, er, disrespecting the rule of law.

Questions were also being asked as to who was ponying up all the money to bring in the likes of Geert Wilders - who had to be given his own security detail - and all the other speakers. Not that this was allowed to enter by the idiot faithful.

Those included Raheem “call me Ray” Kassam, who blamed London’s Mayor. “.@SadiqKhan’s police aren’t very good at doing this to London’s knife-wielding or gun-toting gang members. But they’re very good at doing it to people protesting against radical Islam”. Kassam claims he will run for the Mayoralty in 2020. This Walter Mitty character is not dealing from a full deck. But his followers are lapping it up.

“Antifa infiltrated the march yesterday to whip up trouble, their dress code was red hats and studded belts, we need to be aware the enemy within causing trouble … I think we can all admit, had this been a pro radical islam and/or sharia rally then the police would not have dared do this … If that were a Muslim on the ground, they’d offer a hand to help him up. Then apologise for not understanding their culture”.

Sadly for them, the mood among the wider public has become less accommodating, as scenes of hooliganism, gratuitous violence, attacks on passers-by and other attempts to turn the streets of London into a no-go area became widely known. Jo Phillips summed it up: “The #FreeTommy event in London today was a fitting tribute to the man … pissed up football hooligans rampaging through peoples' home city and throwing stuff (badly) and attacking the police … Good news? All those streamers videoing em means jail time when they are identified”. There was more.

Mike Bray mused “The whole #FreeTommy movement is utterly bizarre. Person breaks law. Person pleads guilty. Person is allowed a chance and given suspended sentence. Person carries out same actions. Person again pleads guilty. Person is sent to prison. So, on what basis should he be freed?” The condemnation kept on coming.

“So a bunch of aggressive white men are making our streets unsafe, causing havoc, and wasting police time with situations that are unnecessary. The very same men who claim it’s others who are a danger/threat to our country … if you want to #FreeTommy it means you support his actions in risking the collapse of a trial for child sex abusers; ergo, if you support freeing tommy robinson you support raping children without consequence”.

Hope Not Hate showed the far-right for what they are: “Defending 'Tommy Robinson' and free speech with a nazi salute... from yesterday's #FreeTommy protest march in Belfast”. Realisation of the law on contempt was also visible: “Getting a bit fed up with the #freetommy brigade assuming that if you're against Yaxley-Lennon then you're a grooming gang sympathiser. The morons don't realise that the scumbag ACTIVELY puts trials at risk, knowing he could be arrested for doing so - because it's against the law”.

And the idea that it was all about free speech, after seeing all the violence and disorder, was not persuading many. “One positive of the #FreeTommy bollocks yesterday - his advocates' ridiculous ‘free speech’ narrative has been torn to shreds. The violent scenes yesterday showed clearly just what career criminal & racist thug ‘Tommy Robinson’ & his obedient followers are all about”. Those downplaying the violence had a problem, too.

At least one of the speakers realised it had been a problem: UKIP leader Adolf von Batten was forced to tell his followers “Regarding the Free Tommy Robinson rally yesterday. I completely condemn any violence from whatever quarter it came. Many thousands of people demonstrated peacefully. A few idiots & provocateurs were not representative. The police did a marvellous job & my thanks to them”.

Pity he had already marched his troops up the hill beforehand, though, wasn’t it? The Wall of Gammon™ can protest all they like - yesterday’s violence  showed what this movement is all about. And it isn’t free speech, or, whisper it quietly, freeing Stephen Lennon.

This is about hypocrisy, pure and simple. The actions of a minority can be used to kick all those Scary Muslims™, but not the Wall of Gammon™. Far right thugs were responsible for yesterday’s disorder. Now they can own the consequences.