British activist and journalist Tommy Robinson has been charged with a terror offense after he refused to provide the police access to his phone.
The charge follows Robinson’s July arrest, when he was accused of “frustration” of police counter-terrorism efforts, The Telegraph reported. At the time, Robinson was detained under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
Detained individuals can be held for up to six hours and are required to answer authorities’ questions and provide information regarding their devices.
Those who refuse to comply are charged with a criminal offense.
“Tommy is due to appear in court on November the 13th to answer to terrorism charges – for not giving the police his pin and full access into his phone which has privileged journalistic information on it,” administrators on Robinson’s X account wrote, in part. “This does not make Tommy a terrorist, it makes him an ethical journalist, one who protects his sources.”
Robinson was taken into custody ahead of a demonstration by his supporters in London.
Ahead of the demonstration, Robinson said, “[M]aybe they don’t want me standing outside Parliament with you. This is your rallying cry. The fight is in our country and the fight is on right now.”
“Add my name to the hundreds of British men and women who have been put away for words on the internet,” he added. “The tyrants are in power. If not now, then when? You know the decision I made to come back. I’m asking you, if you haven’t booked your train tickets, book your train tickets now. We want [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer to be looking out that window because you know the intentions of all of his actions of locking everybody up is to put fear in you. Don’t let him win. Don’t let him win.”
