Two people arrested after Robinson’s presence inflames tensions in scenes witnessed by many on social media
Two people were arrested at an influencer boxing event that descended into a riot in Ireland after the presence of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson inflamed tensions in the crowd.
The riot took place at about midnight on Saturday at an event organised by the controversial internet personality HSTikkyTokky, whose real name is Harrison Sullivan, at the Hub events venue in Kilkenny.
Robinson, 43, is on bail after being found guilty in October of harassing two journalists to the point it caused them fear of violence. He is due back in court on 16 December for a sentencing hearing, with a substantial custodial sentence possible.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was a ringside guest and surrounded by a number of his supporters at the event, which was organised by Sullivan and fellow internet personality Ed Matthews under their Unhinged events company. Sullivan and Matthews earlier this year featured in a Netflix documentary about manosphere influencers. On Friday, Sullivan told the Guardian that Robinson would be attending the event.
A chaotic and violent press conference on Friday evening was a sign of the disorder to come, with competitors repeatedly attacking each other. They included streamers, fitness personalities, drill rappers, OnlyFans models, and Paul Flaherty, a convicted sex offender turned YouTuber.
The event, which was livestreamed on the Kick platform to about 1.8 million viewers, began without incident. The atmosphere grew tense when Sullivan and Matthews invited Robinson to the commentator’s desk before a fight by the Muslim social media personality Mo Deen, whose real name is Mohammad Kubba.
View image in fullscreenScreengrab from a video showing Robinson surrounded by supporters at the event. Photograph: TikTokRobinson, who was holding a copy of his book The Grooming Gang Cover-Up, told Matthews that “Muslims have been raping our country for 100 years”, and cited false statistics about Muslim men and sexual offences. Many of the racially diverse people at the event took offence at Robinson’s comments.
After Kubba won his fight he climbed out of the ring and jumped on to Robinson, throwing punches. A scuffle was brought under control by security, with further competitive fights set to resume.
However, the event erupted into a riot after Sullivan demanded that Kubba, who had left the event, return to “face off” against Robinson in the ring. A reluctant Kubba was escorted back into the venue by the event’s security team. It appeared that Sullivan wished for the pair to have an unscheduled bareknuckle fight, with Sullivan repeatedly heard saying “let Tommy fight him”. Sullivan also allowed Robinson’s entourage, whom he referred to as “Tommy’s boys”, into the ring.
Upon Kubba’s arrival in the ring, which by now was filled with Robinson’s supporters, Robinson threw a copy of his book, which has Arabic-style lettering, at Kubba, and a fight broke out. The crowd erupted into violence, with chairs and barricades being thrown and attenders punching each other, as others screamed and ran for safety.
Interviewed by the Guardian after the riot, Kubba claimed he had been told to start a fight with Robinson, although he declined to say by whom. Before the fight began, Robinson had said he would be willing to “batter” Kubba if the Muslim personality started a fight with him, although he also said that he liked Kubba and bore no ill will towards him. There is no suggestion the riot was pre-planned.
Over the next 20 minutes violent scenes unfolded, as Sullivan pleaded unsuccessfully with the crowd to stay peaceful. The riot was eventually broken up by event and venue security and the gardaí, who had been called to the venue earlier in the night after disturbances.
A Garda Síochána spokesperson confirmed that a male in his 30s was assaulted and removed from the scene to St Luke’s hospital in Kilkenny, while another male in his 20s was arrested and detained at a police station. A teenage boy was also arrested and subsequently charged with violent disorder, and was due to appear in court on Sunday.
Footage of the riot spread on social media in real time. Before the live stream cut to black, some in the crowd could be heard chanting “Oh Tommy Robinson”. After police dispersed the crowds, Sullivan attempted to restart the fights for the live stream only, but was blocked from doing so by a visibly upset representative of the venue.
The Ministry of Justice and the Metropolitan police were unable to confirm whether Robinson’s bail terms prohibited international travel.
In comments uploaded to social media on Sunday, Sullivan acknowledged that he had erred by not hiring more event security. “Everyone makes mistakes when you are trying to grow something,” he said, before adding: “One thing I can say is it was a great night of entertainment and it’s gone super viral.” On its official Instagram account, @unhinged_promotions, footage of the riot was uploaded with the caption: “The Area started a RIOT.”
Outside the venue in the early hours of Sunday morning, the crowd, predominantly teenage boys and young men, filmed the aftermath on their phones. One attender told the Guardian that such things did not happen in Kilkenny city, which has a population of 27,000.