
On Tuesday, Stephen Yaxley Lennon (aka "Tommy Robinson") announced that he was leaving the English Defence League (EDL) – the Islam-battling street army he founded in 2009 in Luton – because it had been infiltrated by “fascists and racists”.“I went away [to jail] for 18 weeks,” he told a pack of journalists on Tuesday evening, at an invite-only press event in central London. “I was given time to evaluate everything… I asked myself a lot of questions.” Soon after being released, he and cousin Kevin Carroll decided to resign their EDL posts.Behind the scenes – as is now widely known – Robinson and Carroll had met with members of Quilliam. They had spent time with Usama Hasan, a former Islamic radical-turned moderate Imam and scholar: learning about the theological differences between "Islam" and "Islamism", and considering modern interpretations of Koranic teachings. In turn, Robinson seems to have convinced Quilliam founders that he doesn't actually hate Muslims.Quilliam took over the storyline from there. A press release issued by them announced the big news. Tommy made his first post-Reformation appearance at a press conference organised by Quilliam, where co-founder Maajid Nawaz (a former Islamist radical) pledged to “guide [the men] and facilitate their transition”. If all goes well, this could be a huge coup for a still-controversial organisation, known mostly for its work with Islamist zealots.
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