It is not immediately clear why members of the Republican hard-right have been pushing so vigorously for the release of a British white nationalist currently jailed in Leeds, England for violating specific orders of a British court. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as "Tommy Robinson", is British white nationalist leader repeatedly arrested for violence; he pleaded guilty in 2012 to illegally entering the United States using false paperwork after he had been barred from this country over past drug charges. His followers have likewise engaged in multiple acts of violence and have a penchant for tossing out Nazi salutes. It was surprising, then, when U.S. white nationalist Rep. Steve King piped up last month with an insistence that Robinson be freed from his British jail.
Now the case has apparently escalated, with the Trump administration attempting to itself intervene on Robinson's behalf.
[U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback] told [British ambassador Sir Kim 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 white nationalist Brownback joins ex-White House adviser and prominent mainstreamer of white nationalist viewpoints Steve Bannon in a new and apparently orchestrated effort to demand Robinson's release. After an interview in which Bannon declared that "he's got to be released from prison", LBC interviewer Theo Usherwood reported Bannon launched into a post-interview tirade in which he praised the violent white nationalist as "the backbone of this country."
Robinson has still more Republican allies, however. A rally yesterday demanding Robinson's release featured an unusual name on the list of featured guests: U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar.
While Reuters reports that Gosar refused comment for their own story, The Independent confirmed that Gosar indeed addressed the rally. Also speaking via videotape: infamous Dutch white nationalist Geert Wilders.
Gosar's inclusion as rally speaker on Robinson's behalf is especially curious because Robinson's supporters have a history of violence; after a June 9th rally devolved into both Nazi salutes and violence against police officers, this new rally was allowed to take place only with substantial restrictions and with a heavy police presence.
Rep. Gosar, who was the subject of recent ridicule after he warned FBI agent Peter Strzok that as "a dentist", "I read body language very, very well," has yet to explain his interest in Robinson or why he addressed Robinson's gaggle of white nationalists, white supremacists and open Nazi supporters in an attempt to secure their leader's prison release. It remains, as of yet, a mystery.
At least, we will all pretend it is a mystery. It would be explained quite efficiently if we simply presumed all individuals involved, from Sam Brownback to Rep. Gosar, were specifically interested in the Robinson case as an effort to normalize and immunize violent white nationalist leaders so that they may engage in further violence; if we are not supposed to assume those intentions, Rep. Gosar and others ought to pipe up with their alternative explanations.
If nothing else, it seems incumbent upon Rep. Gosar to use his expertise as a trained and licensed dentist to suss out the "body language" of what Robinson's supporters mean to say. When Robinson’s allies flash the straight-armed Nazi salute, Mr. Gosar: What does that mean? Can you parse it out for us?
The wider Republican interest in this one particular British white nationalist remains a mystery as well. It was once a cause popular only among British white supremacists; from there, it escalated into a demand of multiple far-right U.S. Congressmen, the U.S. alt-right, and the Trump administration itself. This is a puzzling coincidence, and we look forward to each of Robinson's new powerful Republican supporters explaining themselves.
Trump may be able to pardon racist U.S. sheriffs, campaign finance scofflaws and far-right arsonists responsible for nearly killing federal firefighters, but this new Republican insistence on obtaining amnesty for a British white nationalist with a history of arrests for drugs and violence is, ahem, unusual even in that context.
