Charges were dropped on Tuesday after a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that a police order banning activist and independent journalist Tommy Robinson from taking part in protests in London was unlawful.
Mr Robinson, 40, was arrested in central London on November 26 on suspicion of breaching a ban on participating in pro-Israel demonstrations. Police claimed that when Robinson refused to comply with his commands, they used synthetic pepper spray, handcuffed him and arrested him.
But on Monday, it was revealed that Metropolitan Police Inspector Steve Parker-Phipps had incorrectly dated the dispersal order, writing it as November 24th instead of November 26th. He claimed that the error occurred because his laptop’s battery was “dead.” Parker Phipps acknowledged in court that the order was in error and may not have been legal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2EUzJabvXQ
On Tuesday, he spoke outside court alongside Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who once supported UKIP, and broadcasters Katie Hopkins and Robinson. Said: “Freedom of the press, freedom of speech is under attack. My freedom of assembly, all these things have been taken away from me. I am now allowed to enter London. The ruling is: The arrest was illegal and the pepper spray was illegal too. They arrested me on my daughter’s birthday and now their bail conditions are illegal. This is the first time they’ve been allowed in and out, and it’s St. George’s Day.
“What I want people to understand is that when I say we won, we won. Have we won? Do we have freedom? It’s forbidden, but jihadists take over the capital every week, courtesy of the police. I have restrictions, I have the right to a family life, I take my children to the Christmas lights lighting ceremony. I once went to court to ask if I could do so, but that opportunity was denied.
“For the past six months, I have had to go to Muslim police officers and ask them for permission to enter my capital, and one of those meetings was with a member of parliament. Muslim police officers refused that request. It’s a police state and it’s not free. Today’s judges have sided with the truth, but I have entered these politicized buildings many times. Ta.
“I wasn’t allowed inside the M25 for six months… They restricted my activities, my work, my ability to do journalism. They violated my privacy. I want to meet for journalism. Everyone has to give their phone number to the British police and they will call them. I will tell them where and when I have seen them in the last six months. I had to tell them.”
Metropolitan Police admits ban on protests against Tommy Robinson was illegalhttps://t.co/iwMV9vXRT1
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 22, 2024
The incident centered around a pro-Israel demonstration organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in central London on November 26th. The group reportedly contacted police to request that Robinson be barred from participating in demonstrations, despite the activist’s longstanding public support for Israel and Jews.
Gideon Falter, CEO of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, made headlines last week after he was barred by police from approaching a pro-Palestinian protest. Said “Nobody wants to march with Tommy Robinson,” he said of efforts to prevent Robinson from attending the Nov. 26 rally, adding that he expected police to prevent Robinson from participating. Ta.
Robinson claimed that the police made a mistake in ordering the group to disperse in the first place because he was working as a journalist at the time. He also said police body camera footage has been deleted and shows him asking officers to wait until his co-worker returned with the car keys and giving orders to leave the area. He insisted he was not trying to disobey.
Despite winning the case against him, Rebel News reporter Sheila Gunn Reed, who attended the trial, said: report Robinson will not be charged any fees.
“This is the eighth time I have been to court for this crime, costing me £60,000. It is a legal process and the process is a punishment. I may come here and win. But they won, they suppressed all opposition to Hamas on the streets of this country by banning me for six months, and that’s what they did.”
On Tuesday, Robinson added that he planned to hold his own demonstration in London on June 1 “against two-tier policing” and demand the resignation of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley.
