UK anti-Islam activist Robinson briefly detained under terrorism laws

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - ‌British anti-Islam activist ​Tommy ​Robinson said he was detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday and had his phone seized, ‌after a week when he posted heavily online ⁠about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland.

Robinson, whose real ‌name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said ‌on X he was held on Saturday evening for around 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".

Robinson tweeted repeatedly last week about violence that swept ​Belfast after a video went viral showing the brutal stabbing of a man, who lost ​an eye in the attack. A ‌Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder. Police have said they are not ⁠treating the attack as terrorism.

In the days that followed rioters targeted homes and businesses owned by ethnic minorities or foreign ⁠residents in what the British minister for the province called racist ​thuggery.

Local politicians have said far-right agitators online had helped to coordinate or promote the violence.

Without naming him, a police spokesman said ‌officers had stopped a man in his 40s at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, following ‌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.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Barbara ‌Lewis)

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