Far-right activist Tommy Robinson “could be jailed” after showing a documentary against High Court rulings at a protest in central London on Saturday, according to anti-racism group Hope Not Hate.
The film, Silenced, repeated false claims he made about a Syrian refugee that led to him losing a libel case in 2021. Robinson is due to appear in the High Court on Monday, charged with contempt of court for making the documentary.
Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate wrote on X: “Tommy Robinson is currently screening Silenced in Trafalgar Square, just 48 hours before he is due to appear in the High Court, accused of breaching an injunction preventing him from showing the film. He’s going to jail.
“The Attorney General’s office has been notified that Tommy Robinson screened a film that he had been banned from screening. Such blatant disregard for the law could well earn him the maximum sentence of two years in prison. He has no one but himself to blame.”
The Metropolitan Police said: “We did not know what films would be shown at the event. Event organisers are not required to share this information in advance. We have no power to force them to do so.”
“Officers on duty at the event could not reasonably have been aware of the ongoing civil proceedings relating to a particular film, but now that we have been made aware of them, we are conducting further investigations to determine what action should be taken.”
Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest organised by Tommy Robinson, as well as a counter-protest.
The Metropolitan Police had announced in advance that around 1,000 officers were being deployed across the capital to “maintain the peace” and ensure the two groups were separated.
Eight people were arrested and several rescue workers were assaulted, but none were seriously injured.
The crowd protesting Robinson gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice before marching down the Strand to Trafalgar Square, where a rally was held.
Protesters were heard chanting “Rule, Britannia!”, “England till I die” and “We want our country back”. Police also said they were investigating videos shared online in which “racist and anti-Muslim” chants could be heard.
Speakers at the rally decried immigration and multiculturalism as well as Covid vaccines, while people in the crowd waved British, English and Israeli flags and held signs that read: “Not far right, just right.”
The counter-protest, organised by Stand Up to Racism and Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project, started in Russell Square and marched to Whitehall.
The protesters carried banners reading “We are all migrants” and “Stop Islamophobia” as well as placards calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Chants such as “Tommy Robinson, we know you, you’re a Nazi through and through” and “Nazi scum, off our streets” were also heard.
Speakers at the rally included Corbyn and Eddie Dempsey, deputy general secretary of the RMT union.
Police said two men were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after an assault on a counter-protester, while another man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency services worker and racially aggravated public order offence after a police officer was punched.
Four more people have been arrested outside a pub in Whitehall on suspicion of assaulting emergency workers after four police officers were attacked.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and racially motivated public disorder after allegedly breaking the pole of a Palestinian flag and making racist insults.
The same day, a Trans Pride march took place from Langham Place, near Oxford Circus, to Hyde Park Corner. The march was originally scheduled to start at Trafalgar Square, but organisers changed the route to avoid Robinson’s protest. Police said a ninth person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a steward at the event.
