antifa notes (march 5, 2012)

Australia

Transcendental fascist, filmmaker and Man About Town Richard Wolstencroft is blaming the Socialist Alliance for sabotaging his appearance at the Melbourne Free University’s ‘Controversies on Film’ series last week. Burger-eating, pot-smoking scribbler John Birmingham ponders the fact that:

@JohnBirmingham Apparently a ‘Jasmine’ at The SA bullied the venue with threats that forced the venue to cave in, and then the MFU reneged.

— Richard Wolstencroft (@richardw777) March 1, 2012

Elsewhere, Peter Watson continues to campaign on behalf of Dr Jim Saleam’s Australia First Party on the Vanguard News Network, while the party itself is participating in the campaign against coal seam gas mining on the Darling Downs in Queensland; on February 19, at a meeting opposing the development, Dr Jim gave a speech on why the Chinese imperialists must be stopped from robbing Australians of their birthright.

E-E-England

“Malatesta” has signed an EXCLUSIVE contract with AK Press to publish an account of Militant Antifascism: 100 Years Of Resistance in Europe. “A free copy of the book will be given to those whose material we use substantially. Email us on [email protected].” The book should make compelling reading (and if large enough a useful projectile).

While Malatesta provides an entertaining account of far-right tomfoolery in the UK, according to some, ex-SAffer turned proud Brit Arthur Kemp is a Great Big Nazi Liar. I wouldn’t know about that, but it’s certainly the case that anti-fascists-online reckon youse should copy, paste on your blog, tweet, stick on your Facebook page and otherwise disseminate this photo of Kemp.

Finally, on March 15 there will be a solidarity demo outside of the Bulgarian Embassy in London in support of imprisoned anti-fascist Jock Palfreeman, a 25-year-old Australian currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Sofia, Bulgaria. I wrote an article about Jock’s case for the March 1 edition of Freedom newspaper and this month an appeal against his conviction was launched in the European Court of Human Rights.

Germany

Blood Must Flow is the title of a new doco on the neo-Nazi music underground in Germany.

The film “Blut muss Fliessen” (Blood Must Flow) looks at the neo-Nazi music scene in Germany, as well as in Austria, Italy and Hungary. The documentary, which takes its name from a song adopted by Nazi storm-troopers, features footage from neo-Nazi parties and concerts taken by an undercover reporter.

It is a timely topic: Last week, German authorities slapped hate-crimes charges on a neo-Nazi musician behind the 2010 CD “Adolf Hitler Lives.” Singer Daniel Giese of the band Gigi the Brown City Musicians and the record’s producer were charged in connection with hate-filled lyrics claiming that no Jews died in Auschwitz and celebrating a spate of killings—known in Germany as the “kebab murders”—targeting small businessmen of Turkish origin.

The killings were the focus of a national day of mourning on Feb. 23, with a Berlin ceremony featuring an address by Chancellor Angela Merkel and a nationwide moment of silence. The murder spree, which took place between 2000 and 2007, claimed the lives of eight Turks, a Greek man and a policewoman. In November, German authorities discovered that the murders were carried out by members of an extreme right-wing group called the National Socialist Underground.

Many observers see a strong connection between neo-Nazi music and far-right violence in general. In its latest annual report, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution called the far-right music scene an essential tool to bring in new recruits…

Local neo-Nazis, both old school and new recruits, will be gathering in Brisbane in April. In January, Independent Queensland MP Rob Messenger launched a petition to stop the Hammered Festival from proceeding. As of this date, 1906 individuals have signed the petition “request[ing] the House to call on the Premier of Queensland and the Opposition Leader to commit to supporting legislative change that will ensure our state has the toughest laws in Australia which enable the banning and punishment of Neo Nazis and other race hate proponents’ activities”.

United States

I recently received a few comments on The Strange Case of the Hacks.

For those of you coming in late: On July 4, 1998, two skinheads — Lin “Spit” Newborn, 24, and Dan Shersty, 20 — were murdered by boneheads in the rocky desert northwest of Las Vegas, USA. In 2001 one bonehead, John Edward Butler, was sentenced to death for the crime (in 2004 his sentence was commuted to life in prison). On March 1, 2012, three more boneheads — Melissa Hack, Ross Hack and Leland Jones — were charged with the murders. Melissa Hack was Butler’s boyfriend at the time of the murders and is accused of luring Dan and Spit into the desert where they were shot dead; her brother Ross was (allegedly) a Hammerskin (?) who fled the US shortly after the murders using a false passport. He remained overseas for six years. Upon his return he was charged with passport offences and sentenced to three years jail.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Three Individuals Charged with 1998 Racially-Motivated Murders of Two Men in Las Vegas

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that Ross Hack, 40, Leland Jones, 31, and Melissa Hack, 37, have been charged with first degree murder and firearms offenses in relation to the 1998 deaths of Lin Newborn and Daniel Shersty. The murders took place on land owned and managed by the Federal Bureau of Land Management within the Las Vegas northwest valley.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, between on or about July 3 and July 4, 1998, Ross Hack, Leland Jones, Melissa Hack and others not named in the indictment, allegedly aided and abetted each other in the premeditated shooting and killing of the two victims. A third man, John Butler, was convicted of the murders of Newborn and Shersty by the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in 2000 and is serving two consecutive life sentences in state prison. Evidence at Butler’s trial indicated that the defendants were affiliated or associated with racist neo-Nazi “skinhead” groups at the time of the murders, and that Newborn, who was African-American, and Shersty, who was white, were members of the Anti-Racist Action Group, which is also known as the Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARPS). Both victims were in their 20s at the time of their deaths.

“This case demonstrates that the Department of Justice will be vigilant in working to ensure that every perpetrator of racially-motivated violence is brought to justice,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “I commend the partnership between federal and local law enforcement agencies that led to the charges in this indictment and for continuing to investigate circumstances surrounding the victims’ deaths.”

“I commend the law enforcement agents and detectives for their persistence and efforts in this investigation,” said Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada. “We will pursue the prosecution of these defendants with equal vigor.”

“This week’s indictments and arrests in the brutal murders of Daniel Shertsy and Lin Newborn would not have been possible without the extraordinary effort and dedication of the FBI agents, Metro detectives and DOJ prosecutors who have worked on this matter,” said Kevin Favreau, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Las Vegas. “Even though it was difficult, and it took a very long time to fully investigate, the FBI and Metro never gave up on this case. And with the support of outstanding prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., the public can rest assured that all those responsible for the murders of Daniel Shertsy and Lin Newborn will finally face justice.”

Ross Hack and Melissa Hack face potential penalties of life in prison or the death penalty. Jones, who was not yet 18 years old at the time of the murders, faces a potential penalty of life in prison.

This case is being investigated by the Las Vegas Division of the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada and Trial Attorney Patricia Sumner of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the government at trial.