The UK Green Party has slammed Elon Musk and far-right convict Tommy Robinson after the billionaire re-shared Robinson’s grooming gang video which featured Green Party Councillor Mothin Ali despite him having no links to the vile crime.
On January 3, a propaganda video by far-right activist Tommy Robinson (real name Steven Yaxley-Lennon) was released on X which featured a Robinson rant about so-called “Islamic gangs” and groomers.
However, at one stage in the video, when referring to the Muslim Vote campaign, a picture of Green Party Muslim councillor Mothin Ali featured in the same video.
The video was shared by X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, amassing over 33 million views, 306,000 likes, and 70,000 shares to date.
The unsolicited use of Mothin Ali’s image in the grooming video sparked outrage among Green Party members.
In a statement, the Muslim Greens group branded the video “defamatory” and demanded it be removed from X.
“Targeting our councillor is defamatory to him personally, his community and the Green Party. Such actions are irresponsible, harmful and undermine the values of equality, fairness and respect that should define our society.
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“Issues such as grooming and sexual violence require serious, evidence-based solutions, not racist scapegoating. The 2020 Home Office report showed the largest group of offenders are white, and no ethnicity is disproportionately represented. Facts matter. Hate does not solve problems.
“We demand the immediate removal of this video by Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson and call on both to issue public apologies across all platforms where the content was shared.”
“Elon Musk has no interest in the truth. He is intent on destroying community cohesion, and his obsessive rambling and misinformation spreading is putting real people in real harm, including one of our own hardworking Green Councillors. Solidarity Mothin Ali.”
Mothin Ali: Victim of Islamophobia
Ali is a Muslim councillor who went viral several times after being elected as Gipton & Harehills Ward’s councillor in East Leeds in 2024.
He has earned the title as “the hero of Harehill” after he risked his safety confronting rioters and dowsing flames during the 2024 Harehills riots.
During the riots, false claims were spread by far-right accounts online, particularly on X, of being involved in rioting himself.
This was later debunked after Ali spoke out about the riots and the online misinformation after the violence died down.
Tommy Robinson’s X account was one of the far-right voices sharing the false claims regarding Ali’s role in the riots.
Speaking to 5Pillars, Mothin Ali explained why he feels he was targeted for this propaganda video.
“I look overtly Muslim and for that reason my images were used to spark controversy over an issue I had absolutely no connection with. It’s a reckless and false connection which has resulted in people calling for my deportation, my death as well as a whole host of disgusting abuse. I am currently in hiding afraid to be out in public so this is impacting my ability to serve my community.”
Ali was elected amid a community wide effort to vote for candidates who would stand up for Gaza amid the Israeli genocide of the besieged Strip.
Ali also faced a large scale attack from right-wing media when a video of him declaring his election success “a win for Gaza” and expressing thanks to Allah SWT for his win.
In an exclusive interview with 5Pillars in July, 2024, Ali revealed that the negative coverage of his election win forced him into short term police hiding.
To date, Mothin Ali has never been associated to any criminal activity or the grooming gang scandal which has been hijacked by right-wing groups.
The Muslim Greens explained how Muslim figures, like Mothin, have been targeted in order to further their political agenda.
“The video is both factually incorrect and designed to inflame tensions and stoke racial hatred. We have seen the devastating impact of such rhetoric as recently as this summer when racist riots led to violent attacks on individuals based solely on their ethnicity.
“By promoting these harmful narratives, individuals like Musk, Robinson, and Nigel Farage scapegoat British Muslims and Asians, endangering their safety and fostering a climate of hostility and division.”
Following the widespread attacks and misinformation online, Mr Ali launched a fundraiser aimed at helping the councillor take legal action against far-right figures who smeared him.
Despite the Islamophobic hate Ali has received, he has remained a staunch critic of the UK’s support for Israel and demanded sanctions to end the Gaza genocide.
