Oh Tommy - The Mail Gotcha

During the campaign of intimidation, harassment, threatening, doxxing, and, one has to say it, flagrantly lying in order to pursue his agenda by Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, the thought has occasionally entered as to how he would like it if it was him getting that treatment, if the boot were to be firmly on the other foot.

Now we know: Lennon does not like it one bit. Worse, while he has been whining about articles in the Guardian and Murdoch Times, it is the paper most skilled in the art of spiteful monstering of its targets, the Daily Mail, that has come for him. Now he knows how all those victims of press misbehaviour felt. But his response means there will be no sympathy for him.

Worse, there will be rather less than a snowball’s chance in hell of the Mail cutting him some slack and maybe backing off, of which more later. First, the story: Lennon has arrived in Cyprus, more specifically somewhere in the area of Ayia Napa, at a five star all-inclusive hotel. It’s possible it was not the Mail that figured out where he was. But now they have him in their sights, well.

On the front page you go! “Tinderbox Britain … STOKING RACE RIOTS FROM HIS SUNBED … Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson relaxes in five-star Cyprus resort while fuelling violence across UK with inflammatory online posts”. There was more: “Robinson, 41, shared a series of fake stories over the weekend including claims that Muslims had stabbed protesters in Staffordshire and attacked three women in Scotland”.

Just wait until Northcliffe House’s finest get to work on his film SILENCED, which is chock-full with packs of lies from one end to the other, even though he declaims them loudly and aggressively, while calling anyone opposing him a liar. So how did Lennon take the attention from the Mail?

Not at all well. “If you haven’t all noticed their plan is to pin all of this violence on me . My documentary is at 30 million views, it’s a huge blow to their corrupt judiciary’s credibility. They want pay back”. Not a good idea to brag about how many views your dishonest and defamatory film is getting.

There was more. “My kids are crying , we come here so I could spend some quality time with them . Now they are scared people are coming here to get them. The daily Mail have purposely doxxed the exact location of my family . How can they be allowed to do this”. Thought you had an exclusive on doxxing your targets, eh? The Mail did not give the exact location. And why do the kids think someone is coming to get them? Who told them that?

Then he lost it: “these lies have a direct result on threats to my family . Is it ok if I track down the journalists addresses & families details & dox them? Would that be journalism. This has been coordinated from the top down because my latest documentary humiliates their lies. They have purposely doxxed where my children are is it fair for me to do the same to them”. Do go on.

“By tomorrow I’ll have every bit of information on the journalists who wrote these lies & endangered & caused fear to my children. This is not acceptable behaviour, it’s intimidation by a corrupt & morally bankrupt media”. But it’s OK when he does it to anyone else. And if his source for that information is an actual journalist, they may well back off doxxing the Mail.

Because that would incur the Mail’s displeasure. You don’t want to go there. What Lennon should be looking at is why he got busted. And, as Jon Stewart might have said, two things here. One, the Mail isn’t exactly immune to anti-Muslim bigotry: better to shop a convenient scapegoat, so that all the attention homes in elsewhere. Which brings us to Two.

If Lennon thinks he has the backing of some important actors out there, he can think again. When the Mail dumps on you, one reason they do so is that nobody really important is going to lean on them and tell them to desist. Not only has the Mail dumped on Lennon, it’s highly likely that it’s had the green light to do so. He thought he had clout? Not any more he doesn’t.

Stephen Lennon’s little Wild West Show just ran out of road. Rejoice!

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