Politics

Man accused of stoking far-right riots in UK to publish Comic Sans 'manifesto' on 'peaceful disobedience'

Man accused of stoking far-right riots in UK to publish Comic Sans 'manifesto' on 'peaceful disobedience'

Related video: Thousands turn out to oppose 'Pro-UK' rally backed by Tommy Robinson

PA

Tommy Robinson, the far-right convicted criminal and founder of the English Defence League, has now turned his attention to co-writing a book with author Peter McLoughlin on “free speech, real democracy and peaceful disobedience” titled Manifesto – except his choice of typeface for the cover is Comic Sans.

Yes, really.

Telling his Twitter/X followers on Friday that the book is “nearly ready for release”, Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) wrote: “This books [sic] a game changer, five years of research. This book comes with all the evidence of the replacement of Europeans by the oligarchy.

“If you think they hate me now, wait till this hits number one and adds to the mass awakening.”

The baseless claim that authority figures are ‘replacing’ a population of people is commonly referred to as the “great replacement theory” or “white replacement theory” – with Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League previously describing the conspiracy theory as “a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites”.

“It is antisemitic, racist and toxic,” he tweeted in April 2021, when the theory was promoted by then Fox News host, Tucker Carlson.

As for the book discussing “peaceful disobedience”, Yaxley-Lennon was accused of stoking the far-right riots which hit the UK last month, following online misinformation over a stabbing in Southport which claimed the lives of three young girls.

Though when it comes to X, the one element of the book users on the platform have been pointing out – and roasting – is the fact that the cover features the long-ridiculed typeface that is Comic Sans:

Others also joked about the contents of the upcoming book, and the type of person who would pick up a copy:

Manifesto is just the latest piece of content promoted by a convicted criminal who describes himself as an “investigative journalist” – a claim which, unsurprisingly, sparked laughter from the majority of people online given his failure to understand contempt of court (which, you know, most bona fide journalists do a pretty good job of respecting).

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