Tommy Robinson, the hard-right British activist born Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been received at the State Department in Washington during a visit he described as "making alliances and friendships."
The meeting was arranged by Joe Rittenhouse, a senior State Department adviser who welcomed Robinson in a personal capacity rather than on behalf of the US government. A department spokesman later confirmed Robinson "visited the state department in an unofficial capacity on a tour."
Robinson carries convictions for assault, passport fraud, mortgage fraud and contempt of court. He cut his teeth in far-right politics through the British National Party before going on to establish the English Defence League.
His rhetoric towards Muslims has included calling them "filthy scumbags", declaring people should "make war" on them, and urging followers to behead those who follow the Quran — comments that eventually saw him removed from Facebook.
Mr Robinson has been contacted for comment by the Express via his media representatives.
Last autumn the Express reported on how Robinson drew more than 100,000 supporters to his Unite the Kingdom march, presented to the public as a "free speech" event. Elon Musk dialled in via video link to rail against what he termed the "woke mind virus."
A counter-protest of more than 5,000 people gathered in response, and clashes broke out that put 26 officers in hospital — four with serious injuries. Police made 24 arrests covering offences ranging from affray and violent disorder to assault and criminal damage.
Around the same time, the Church of England issued a warning to Christians to resist "populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends" after Robinson called supporters to a London carol event he framed as "putting the Christ back into Christmas."
Last November Robinson walked free from a terror charge after declining to give border police the PIN to his mobile phone.
Officers had pulled him over at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Folkestone as he headed to the Spanish resort of Benidorm behind the wheel of a silver Bentley SUV, carrying a substantial sum of cash.
At Westminster Magistrates' Court, Robinson told the hearing he had called the officers a "c***" and withheld his iPhone PIN to protect what he described as his "journalist material."
Police had grown suspicious after receiving what they considered "vague replies" to questions about his travel plans, and invoked Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act to demand access to his device.
