Thread by @BrianMichaelTO

Thread on Tommy Robinson and UK Law:

1) Tommy Robinson was arrested last Friday for "Breaching The Peace" outside of a courtroom. Inside the court, jurors were considering verdicts for the defendants that Tommy was recording. #FreeTommy #FreeTommyRobinson #FreeSpeech

2) Here are the cases and the schedule. Because the grooming gang was so large, there are three total cases. Two of them are shown here with the current schedule.

3) The Jury had retired to consider the verdict. Knowing this, Tommy pointed out the overnight bags of the defendants when they were entering the courthouse. Tommy suspected the verdicts were in and would be delivered on that day.

4) In the UK, a fair trial is enshrined in the law above and beyond the free speech of the press. If a judge believes that reporting, even if it’s accurate and w/o mal intent, could prejudice the administration of justice, then that reporter can be found in contempt of court.

5) Judges have a lot of leeway to decide here. From the view of the prosecutor and judge in the UK, I get it. I wouldn't want to be at the end of a trial, and have a polarizing figure broadcasting themselves questioning defendants, which could potentially cause a mistrial.

6) Here's where I take issue with the UK law.

a) With jury sequestration being rare (for good reason), what's stopping any single juror from accessing a story on the internet? Or talking to an opinionated friend? Nothing but the willpower of self-sequestration.

b) If a juror is already self-sequestering, then the law is redundant and limits free speech. If they're not self-sequestering, then the law is useless and limits free speech. This law is outdated.

7) Tommy had a previous contempt of court charge last May. He was sentenced to 3 months but it was suspended for 18 months. A suspension is like probation here in the US, if he doesn't breach the terms of his suspension for 18 months, he won't have to serve the 3 months in prison

8) A quick story about Tommy Robinson. Earlier this year, he was filming by a McDonald's when a violent gang of masked ANTIFA thugs attacked him and the two friends with him.

9) It was six scumbag ANTIFA males versus Tommy, a guy, and a girl. They knocked her down trying to grab her phone and backed up Tommy to the entrance of McDonald's.

10) They exchanged a few swings and then Tommy took this position in the doorway. ANTIFA figured it was over and dropped their guard. Who would try to take on all six of them at once?

11) Tommy Fuckin' Robinson, that's who. He used the doorway to syphon off their attack angles and then catapulted himself out in a full-on assault.

12) He landed some good blows and was knocked down & kicked. But he wasn't done, he got back up and still kept fighting. In the end, ANTIFA retreated. He was simply willing to endure. This guy doesn't back down. It's not in his DNA.

Back to the charges...

13) According to the Judge Geoffrey Marson on Friday, Tommy breached the terms of his suspension and was sentenced to 10 months in addition to the 3 months from the previous charge. 13 months total.

14) Judge Geoffrey Marson also placed a gag order on publication of Tommy's case until the two grooming trials are concluded. Tommy's real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. The gag order should be lifted soon since the jury is considering their verdicts.

15) Section 4(2) of the Contempt of Court Act allows for this gag order. Judge Marson didn't want a high-profile arrest connected to these cases to prejudice the jury. I take issue with this law for the same reasons listed above.

16) At the end of his stream, Tommy asks for a solicitor. The police informed his solicitor by phone that he was being released - There was no need to travel.

Tommy was then taken directly to court, assigned a useless court solicitor, was sentenced and taken to prison.

17) It seems that the judge was very worried about the just trial for the grooming gang but not for Tommy Robinson. Not when his solicitor can't be given an opportunity to properly represent him.

Hopefully, this will be a point of appeal.

18) I know many worry, including myself, that Tommy will be harmed or killed by a muslim gang in prison. Remember the guy who left a bacon tied to the door of a mosque? He died before he could finish his sentence. It was reported as an overdose.

19) In the US, what Tommy did is perfectly legal. The defendants must exercise caution when speaking in public. Hence, "No Comment."

When a judge can issue a sentence & gag the media from reporting on it, there is room for abuse.

20) Watching the stories being redacted in realtime was Orwellian.

People weren't about to be silent when a man, who has stood up for them time and time again, was facing trouble.

21) #FreeTommy went to #1 trending on UK twitter and was trending in the US. Hundreds of people showed up to support him and hundreds of thousands signed the petition.

The guy that fight bullies, you don't leave that guy behind.

22) And that guy, the one who faces down the darkest souls in our society, he didn't just stand up for girls being raped. Not just for the parents that are now policing their own neighborhoods. He stood up for us all. He was our voice when the system had failed us.

23) And that's why we are his voice when the system has failed him.

Tommy Robinson isn't the type to stop fighting. It's in his DNA. Through the media attacks, through the death threats and assaults, he has endured. Now it's our turn.