Far-right British politician punches man who threw milkshake at him in protest


Far-right U.K. politician Tommy Robinson punched Thursday a man who threw a milkshake in his face in protest as he was campaigning in the northwestern English town of Warrington.

Robinson, who is running as a candidate for the upcoming European Parliament elections which are scheduled to be held between May 23 and 26, has faced protests throughout his campaign.

In Thursday's incident captured on camera by another protester, Robinson was seen holding a microphone and talking to a man, identified by British news outlets as Danyal Mahmud from Blackburn, who then threw the milkshake in his hand at Robinson.

Robinson, who was also showered with a milkshake a day earlier in Bury, got angry and started throwing punches at Mahmud along with a couple of his supporters. People intervened to break up the scuffle, saving Mahmud from further harm.

Facing reactions from more people after the incident, 36-year-old Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was forced to leave the area in a police vehicle while onlookers took photos and videos.

"We are aware of an allegation of assault made following an incident in Bridge Street in Warrington this afternoon. We are looking into the circumstances," the Cheshire Police said in a statement.

No charges were filed against Robinson or Mahmud.

Mahmud, 23, told the Asian Image website that Robinson kept on insisting to talk to him despite his rejection and efforts to walk past his group. He said he got annoyed in the end and the milkshake "slipped" out of his hand.

In a separate incident in Warrington, Robinson and his supporters were seen attacking a man who apparently protested the far-right grouping, while they were also seen chasing a minor who reportedly "dropped" a milkshake near the group.

A footage showing a middle-aged mom fending off Robinson's recruitment efforts in Salford on Wednesday also went viral across the U.K. Manchester City's Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Moraes also shunned away from Robinson the same day after a photo showing him and Robinson together circulated online, allegedly offering his full support to the far-right leader.

"People have made me aware of who this guy is. I definitely [do] not support this guy or his ideas. He just stopped me for a picture. I had no idea who he was," Moraes tweeted.

Robinson was the former leader of the far-right, white supremacist and anti-Muslim protest group English Defence League (EDL). He is a political adviser to the euroskeptic UKIP party of Britain, one of the leading forces in the "leave" campaign that prevailed in the June 2016 referendum on the U.K.'s departure from the EU.

In a similar incident, Australian teenager William Connolly gained worldwide fame for egging far-right senator Fraser Anning who blamed the March 15 attacks that targeted two mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch and killed 51 people on immigration. Anning punched Connolly a few times and his supporters beat the teenager for minutes.