To say that Tommy Robinson is a controversial figure in Britain is putting it mildly. His sins range from being an ultra-right wing conservative (gasp) to being a harsh critic of open borders (GASP) to being an outright Islamophobe (OMG I CANT EVEN)! These are bad things to be in America’s left-wing politically correct cult of social media, but they are nearly untenable across the pond, where they are oh so much more enlightened and posh and inclusive than we brutish Yanks. It’s a wonder, actually, that the UK couldn’t find a reason to lock Robinson up and throw away the key long before now; once they had an actual law to point to, though, it didn’t take them long to act. This is something they’ve been waiting to do for ages.
Robinson, like other European conservatives like Geert Wilders and Nigel Farage, is laser-focused on the threat that radical Islam poses to once-great nations like Great Britain. Under siege from hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa – thanks to the loose migration restrictions of the EU – these countries are watching terrorist attacks (and other forms of brutal crime) skyrocket. Robinson has been busy sounding the alarm bell – a dangerous thing to do when British law condemns Islamophobia as not just indecent, but in some cases, an actual hate crime.
Robinson was arrested on Friday for standing outside a courtroom and reporting on the trial unfolding inside – a case in which radical Muslims were standing trial for grooming young girls for a life of sex slavery. The crime Robinson committed was (supposedly) unrelated to his views; rather, his crime was to violate a previous court order barring him from filming outside British courts. The UK is desperate the keep the details of these cases out of the public sphere; when it comes to the crimes of Islam, they feel that it is literally dangerous to let the people know what’s happening.
When the truth poses a threat to the social order, something is very wrong.
Make no mistake, this is a view into the world many younger Americans would like to recreate on our shores. Millennials, in several recent polls, have confirmed that they believe hate speech should be illegal. That it is more important to protect the feelings of “oppressed minorities” (a category that includes virtually anyone they want it to include) than to protect the First Amendment. They, like the British, are ready to trade freedom for political correctness.
Stay vigilant.
