A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case, maybe a thousand protests

Earlier this evening, Bwog received a tip from a “concerned student” about an upcoming speech by Tommy Robinson to the Columbia Republicans. Here’s what we know about Robinson and why the Republicans want him to speak.

“Tommy Robinson” (born Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, who also goes by the name Andrew McMaster and Paul Harris) is a former member of the British National Party and British Freedom Party, both far-right political parties that focused primarily on British nationalist, Eurocentric, and anti-Islam causes.

Additionally, Robinson co-founded the English Defense League (EDL) in 2009, which is a far-right street protest movement dedicated to opposing the spread of Islamism and Sharia in the United Kingdom. This group has been described as Islamophobic and was one of the largest anti-Islam movements in Europe, briefly aligning itself with the European Defense League. Robinson left that organization in 2013 because of the dangers of “far-right extremism,” but almost immediately joined the think tank Quilliam that focuses on anti-extremism strategy, specifically anti-Islamism.

In 2015, Robinson founded Pegida UK (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West), an organization that acts as a chapter of the Germany-based Pegida. As you can probably guess that this point, Pegida is a nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement. For Robinson, Pegida was intended to bring together a more “middle-class” demographic, with the goal of stopping Muslim immigration, banning burqas, and placing moratoriums on mosque construction.

According to what very little advertising we could find, the speech by Robinson will be given to the CU Republicans via Skype during their weekly meeting tomorrow night at 8:00 PM in Hamilton 503. The one flyer found that advertises the event includes a quote by noted atheist, Christopher Hitchens, stating “Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.”

As of writing, it is still unclear as to what the CU Republicans hope to learn from a British white nationalist whose only political contributions involve opposing Islam and advocating for white people in Britain.

Purpose of photo is to identify the organization discussed in the article with a visual logo and to illustrate the organization’s intended branding message in a way that words alone could not convey, as per fair use, via Wikipedia