Tommy Robinson, the British anti-Islam activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has said he was detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday evening, with police also confiscating his mobile phone following a week of online commentary about unrest in Northern Ireland.
Robinson claimed on X that he was held for roughly three hours under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act.
“My phone has been seized by the police,” he said on X. “Please help kick off my legal fund for defence.”
His posts in the days leading up to the incident focused heavily on violence linked to riots in Belfast, which erupted after a video circulated online showing a man being stabbed in an attack that left him blind in one eye.
Authorities have charged a Sudanese national with attempted murder, while stressing that the case is not being treated as terrorism.
As disturbances spread, homes and businesses belonging to ethnic minorities and foreign nationals were targeted in attacks described by a British minister for the region as racist thuggery.
Local officials have also pointed to the role of far-right online figures in amplifying or organising the unrest.
Although Robinson was not directly named, a police spokesperson confirmed that officers stopped a man in his 40s at Heathrow after his return to Britain from Russia via Turkey.
“The man was interviewed by officers and his communication devices were seized. He was subsequently released,” the spokesman said.
