Court clears British far-right activist Tommy Robinson of terror-related offense

LONDON — Far-right British activist Tommy Robinson has been cleared of a terror offense after he was tried for refusing to give police access to his phone during a border stop at the Channel Tunnel.

During the two-day trial, Robinson — who has become a key figure on the far-right of British politics — said in a video posted on X that the platform’s owner Elon Musk had “picked up the legal bill” for what he branded “absolute state persecution.”

Robinson thanked Musk outside the court after being acquitted. “Why did it take an American businessman to fight for our justice here,” he told a crowd of supporters.

Musk’s team have not confirmed this claim, but the X owner addressed a British rally organized by Robinson in September. “You either fight back or you die,” Musk told the crowd.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that officers demanded Robinson, whose real name is Stephen-Yaxley Lennon, share the pin to his phone under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act during a stop in July 2024.

Robinson is said to have told officers that there was “journalistic material” on his device and refused. The Terrorism Act gives officers the power to stop someone passing through a U.K. port to assess “whether they may be involved or concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.”

This developing story is being updated.