Tommy Robinson, who over two terms as a county sheriff in Arkansas in the 1980s made repeated national headlines with stunts like chaining inmates to a prison tower to protest jail overcrowding, and who then used that reputation to win three terms in Congress, died on July 10 in Forrest City, Ark., east of Little Rock.
His daughter Fran Moseley confirmed the death, in a hospital.
She said that while he had been ill recently, a cause of death had not been determined.
Mr. Robinson was once among Arkansas’s best-known political figures, referred to universally by his first name or simply “T.R.” His unconventional, often outlandish behavior won him hordes of admirers, but just as many enemies.
“People either loved or hated my dad,” his daughter said.
Persons:
Tommy Robinson, Fran Moseley, Robinson, ”
Organizations:
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Locations:
Arkansas, Forrest City, Little, ”, Pulaski County, Little Rock