British anti‑Islam activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley‑Lennon, says he was detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday and had his phone confiscated by police after a week in which he posted heavily about racist and anti‑immigrant riots in Northern Ireland.
Robinson wrote on X that he was held for around three hours under the Counter‑Terrorism and Border Security Act, claiming officers seized his phone before releasing him. He urged supporters to contribute to what he called his “legal fund for defense.”
His online activity last week focused on the violent unrest that swept Belfast after a video went viral showing the brutal stabbing of a man who later lost an eye. A 30‑year‑old Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder, though police have said they are not treating the attack as terrorism. In the days that followed, rioters targeted homes and businesses belonging to ethnic minorities and foreign residents in what the UK’s minister for Northern Ireland described as “racist thuggery.”
Local politicians have accused far‑right agitators of helping to coordinate or amplify the violence online, warning that misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric worsened tensions on the ground.
Without naming Robinson, a police spokesperson confirmed that officers stopped a man in his 40s at Heathrow on Saturday after he arrived in Britain from Russia via Türkiye.
“The man was interviewed by officers and his communication devices were seized. He was subsequently released,” the spokesperson said.
The incident adds another layer to the debate over online extremism, border powers and the role of far‑right influencers in fuelling unrest across the UK.
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