Samantha Markle Sparks Twitter Storm With New Political Rant

Meghan Markle‘s half-sister, Samantha Markle, sparked a Twitter debate after advocating for the prison release of a man who founded a far-right protest movement in England.

In a lengthy Twitter rant, Samantha Markle argued for the release of Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League (EDL), after he was sentenced to 13 months in prison for contempt of court.

Robinson was arrested last week after live streaming an hour-long rant about a major trial outside Leeds Crown Court, putting it at risk of collapse. The Sun reports that in Britain, interfering with an ongoing trial by publishing material that could prejudice a jury is a serious offense and can result in hefty fines and prison time.

Sharing a link to free 35-year-old Robinson, whose given name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, Markle claimed that if “someone is saying things outside the court house they are already selling them to the media – they don’t have the ability to sway a jury anymore.”

She wrote that “It is up to the jurors to ignore it,” the Daily Mail reports.

Many responded to the California native, who currently resides in Florida, calling her a “silly woman” and telling her to “read the judge’s statement” reiterating that Robinson broke his “suspended sentence” while protesting last week.

Many blasted her as being ignorant of contempt laws and freedom of speech in Great Britain.

“Some forms of expression – e.g. child pornography – are never covered by the [First Amendment]. The Tommy Robinson case is not one of free speech. It is to do with his (again) violating a gag order imposed to preserve the integrity of a criminal trial,” one person wrote.

The judge involved in the case, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, said on Friday, “No one could possibly conclude that it would be anything other than highly prejudicial to the defendants in the trial. I respect everyone’s right to free speech. That’s one of the most important rights that we have. With those rights come responsibilities. The responsibility to exercise that freedom of speech within the law. I am not sure you appreciate the potential consequence of what you have done.”

Judge Marson QC went on to say that should the jury see the video Robinson live streamed, it would undoubtedly force him to “discharge the jury.”

This isn’t Markle’s first time stirring up trouble on the internet, although she seems to have moved on from only discussing her estranged half-sister, the new Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.

Throughout the months leading up to Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding, Samantha laid into Meghan after not receiving an invitation to the Royal Wedding. Earlier this week she criticized Meghan’s new coat of arms, which was revealed last week.

The Daily Mail reports that Samantha tweeted from her private Twitter account, writing, “Extremely improper that my father was not named on the coat of arms, and quite frankly it looks like it was drawn by someone in a kindergarten classroom.”

Many Twitter users chirped back about Samantha’s harsh comments.

“Why is [Samantha Markle] upset about the Coat of Arms? You & the rest of the Markle family have been an embarrassment. As an American, I’m embarrassed for Meghan,” one Twitter user wrote.

Photo credit: ITV