Anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson speaking at Columbia tomorrow
He’s been called ‘the most hated man in Britain’
Tomorrow evening, the Columbia University College Republicans are hosting a talk with Tommy Robinson.
If you haven’t heard of him yet, he’s the co-founder and former leader of the English Defense League or EDL, a street protest movement in opposition of the spread of Islam and Sharia Law in the UK.
To The Guardian he said: “Islam is not a religion of peace. Islam is fascist and it’s violent and we’ve had enough! They’re chopping our soldiers’ heads off. This is Islam. That’s what we’ve seen today.”
According to the Facebook event, he will discuss “Freedom of Speech and the Police State” during a talk over Skype.
It also describes him as having “led the EDL from 2009 until 8 October 2013, when he was persuaded to discuss alternative ways of tackling extremism with the think tank Quilliam.”
Robinson, who earned a reputation as “the most hated man in Britain“, once told the BBC: “”Nazism and Islamism are on the opposite sides of the same coin – we oppose both. Nazism has been defeated and Islamism is spreading across the country.”
His talk precedes the invite of another controversial speaker this semester, Milo Yiannopoulos, a British pundit on the far-right.
He has been booked to appear on November 16th and is infamous for saying “Feminism is cancer” and “Why are we surprised that Muslims are blowing things up? That’s what they do.”
Some students argue this kind of talk is just freedom of speech, while others say it has no place on our campus. Either way, the university has allowed both speakers a platform.