A far-right activist from the UK who was released from prison this year has claimed that Elon Musk is the one paying for his legal costs.
This comes after Tommy Robinson was released from prison following his conviction for contempt of court last year.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is now on trial after he refused to hand over the passcode for his phone to police, claiming that it had ‘journalistic material on it’.
The controversial campaigner was stopped at the Channel tunnel as he tried to leave Britain in July 2024.
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Robinson was driving alone in a silver Bentley owned by a friend and was carrying over £13,000 ($17,347) in a bag.
The activist claimed that the cash had been from a collection to offset the expenses of a major rally Robinson had held the day prior in Trafalgar Square.
Under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, authorities requested to view the contents of Robinson’s iPhone, which he failed to comply with.
In a recorded video taken before entering court, Robinson said: “Thankfully, I haven’t had to beg for donations today because Elon Musk has picked up the legal bill for this absolute state persecution.”
Musk has not yet confirmed whether he is actually footing the bill for Robinson’s legal fees.
The billionaire was recently slammed online for his ‘violence’ warning during a far right rally in the UK.
The protest was led by Robinson and took place on the streets of London last month.
Speaking via video link at the protest, Musk could be heard ranting about the so-called ‘woke mind virus’, adding: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth.”
Peter Kyle, who is the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said: “I thought that they were slightly incomprehensible comments that were totally inappropriate. But what we saw yesterday was over 100,000 people who were expressing freedom of association, freedom of speech, and proving that both of those things are alive and well in this country.
“A small minority of people who are protesting committed acts of violence against our police for which they should and they will be held accountable.”
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that anyone ‘taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law’.
Musk’s comments about violence came just days after political commentator Charlie Kirk was killed in the US.