Trump ambassador pressured UK on treatment of jailed anti-Islamic activist: report

President Trump’s ambassador for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, raised the treatment of a jailed English anti-Muslim activist during a meeting with Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Reuters reported Friday.

Brownback brought up the case of an activist known as Tommy Robinson during a June meeting with British ambassador Sir Kim Darroch, pressuring the country to treat Robinson with more sympathy, according to the outlet’s sources.

He reportedly said that if Britain did not do so, the Trump administration may publicly criticize the case. Robinson’s supporters are concerned that he may be attacked by other prisoners.

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A State Department spokesman told Reuters that the “characterizations” of the meeting were “completely false.”

The British Embassy did not comment to the wire service on the details of the meeting.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a founder of the anti-Muslim English Defense League. The group has organized violent protests against Islamic immigrants for years.

Reuters noted that it was unclear why a Trump administration official would advocate on behalf of an anti-Muslim figure.

Robinson was arrested in May outside a courthouse in England while recording a video about a trial on child molestation. He was sentenced to 13 months in jail for violating a law limiting publicity on criminal trials.

Robinson’s supporters have staged rallies and protests calling for him to be freed in both the U.S. and Britain.