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| Tommy Robinson |
Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, complained to the British ambassador in Washington D.C. about the treatment of an English right-wing activist who is in jail for disrupting a trial, according to three sources familiar with the discussion.
Brownback raised the case of the activist known as Tommy Robinson in a June meeting with Sir Kim Darroch, Britain’s Ambassador to the United States, according to a British official and two sources close to the organizers of a pro-Robinson demonstration in London on Saturday.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, though he also uses other aliases, was a founder of the English Defense League. More recently, Robinson branded himself a journalist and campaigner against Islamic extremism.
Robinson was arrested in late May outside a courthouse in Leeds, England, while making video recordings about a trial related to child molestation and jailed for 13 months for violating English law limiting publicity during criminal trials.
Brownback raised the jailing of Robinson during a meeting with Darroch that covered a range of “religious freedom issues”, the British official confirmed earlier this week.
Brownback told Darroch that if Britain did not treat Robinson more sympathetically, the Trump administration might be compelled to criticize Britain’s handling of the case, according to the two sources in contact with organizers of the planned pro-Robinson demonstration.
The sources said Robinson‘s supporters, who have also been in touch with the Trump administration about the issue, were concerned that he could be attacked by other prisoners.
Brownback, who is a former governor of Kansas and former U.S. senator, was not available for comment. However, on Thursday a U.S. State Department spokesman said the “characterizations” of Brownback’s meeting with Darroch by Reuters sources were “completely false” but the spokesman did not elaborate further.
The British Embassy had no comment on further details of the discussion.
Last week, the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia group, said it was sponsoring and organizing a “Free Tommy Robinson” demonstration in London near the British Parliament on Saturday in collaboration with British and European groups.
