What should anti-fascists do if Tommy Robinson is killed in prison?

Submitted by Jim on July 10, 2019

This is all very hypothetical, but I think it's worth thinking about given how much Robinson is hyping this up as a possibility. There are also lessons we can learn from what happened when Lee Rigby was killed in 2013.

When Rigby was killed there were flash protests in the area where the killing happened, mass protests in central London with thousands of attendees, attacks on dozens of Mosques across the country and the far-right in the immediate area where the killing happened was strengthened significantly. Protests took place in the immediate area for several years before petering out although they can still happen occasionally.

If Robinson is killed in prison (which is highly unlikely), I would expect the reaction from his supporters to be significantly worse than it was when Rigby was killed. If his assailants were Muslim (or if people were told that they were Muslim, the truth doesn't really matter to his supporters), I would expect more Mosques to be attacked and potentially even some pogroms to happen in some parts of the country. Organising against that could be incredibly difficult as it'd basically be inter-communal violence.

The mass protests in central London would be a lot easier to respond to, if the left was willing, as it's just about putting numbers onto the streets. Although Robinson could easily get crowds of 20,000+ in death who would be more interested in rioting than they were when he was jailed. There is also the likelihood of more lone wolf style attacks but there's very little which can be done to stop those.

Jim

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Jim on July 11, 2019

Robinson has just been sent back to prison for 10 weeks.

Mike Harman

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on July 11, 2019

No Thatcher-style party suggestion?

Jim

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Jim on July 11, 2019

Mike Harman

No Thatcher-style party suggestion?

I thought that was a given.

Mike Harman

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Mike Harman on July 11, 2019

Jim

When Rigby was killed there were flash protests in the area where the killing happened, mass protests in central London with thousands of attendees, attacks on dozens of Mosques across the country and the far-right in the immediate area where the killing happened was strengthened significantly. Protests took place in the immediate area for several years before petering out although they can still happen occasionally.

While Tommy Robinson is a lot more famous, he's also not a squaddie walking down the street, so I think the response would be slightly different - i.e. I can see protests by existing Tommy Robinson fans, but not necessarily the successful recruitment that happened for the EDL.

R Totale

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on July 12, 2019

FLAF say he's under 24/7 watch in the "Huntley Suite", which is pretty much what I would've expected: https://mobile.twitter.com/LadsLasses/status/1149621324949544967
After all, Huntley, Brady, Abu Hamza etc all managed to survive far longer stretches, and I don't think that's because they were so universally popular.

freemind

4 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by freemind on July 12, 2019

Open a bottle of Superbok and celebrate!
The Fash don’t need much pretext to get on the street and howl and bitch.
The context and situation is more complex and dire than when AFA was active in the 80’s and 90”s.Amiddle class football hooligan with a herd of slandering idiots idolising him is the least of our worries.
Yaxley Lennon is a dog lionised by Daily Mail columnists and Neo Tyndallite dirt in UKIP.
What happened to Rigby and the aftermath is nothing to what’s in store potentially.
How do we counter them?
Every death of a Fascist or bigot should raise a glass but they are Legion in many forms.
They are grafted on to the body politic of the British State and whist they are the runt of the bourgeoise they hit the ground running due to the Nationalisation and racialising of Class politics in our communities.We need to be inventive plural and organised to counter this.
Any ideas’m