antifa notes (march 10, 2022) : Just A Bit of Fun With Nazi Trolls

Briefly:

1) Sydney-based neo-Nazi blabbermouth and Australia First Party member Nathan Sykes (AKA Hamish Patton AKA New Australian Bulletin) has pleaded guilty to making repeated and explicit violent threats against a Melbourne journalist and lawyer. He will be sentenced on April 1.

See : Far-right extremist troll pleads guilty to threatening journalist, Nick McKenzie, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 24, 2022 | Revealing the secrets of one of Australia’s worst online trolls, Luke McMahon, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 16, 2017.

2) Melbourne-based neo-Nazi and former University of Melbourne Liberal Club treasurer Stefan Eracleous (AKA Australian Meditations AKA zorba dundee 51) has been identified as being responsible for the publication of a racist video attacking DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe. Note that ’51’ is a reference to the number of people murdered by Eracleous’ hero in Christchurch; in the wake of the massacre, Facebook promoted Eracleous’ (since-deleted) page; Eracleous utilised the (now-deleted) Twitter account @Johndixon1788 in order to promote his video, commencing with a tweet to myself and others on January 6.

See : Neo-Nazi unmasked as former Young Liberal, Nick McKenzie, The Age, February 12, 2022 | Misogynist rants from Young Libs, Henrietta Cook and Farrah Tomazin, The Age August 10, 2014.

3) In NSW, Benjamin and Josh Lucas, arrested in March 2020, have pleaded not guilty to preparing or planning for a terrorist act, and intentionally advocating for others to do a terrorist act.

The court was told that Joshua Lucas also described himself as a white nationalist and wrote online: “f**k the Jews” and “I wish Hitler did kill six million”.

“You might be satisfied that what Josh Bro had to say on Telegram and Facebook and Instagram was distasteful, boring, boorish, sometimes vaguely amusing … but what I’ll be suggesting is it’s not reflective of a terrorist intent,” his barrister Madeleine Avenell said.

“And you’ll be able to interpret Joshua Lucas’ in-real-life conduct in a similar way – jokes, a hobby, a bit of fun.”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

See : Terror accused just provocative: lawyer, Tiffanie Turnbull/AAP, Bega District News, March 9, 2022 | Alleged terror plot brothers claim they were ‘trolls’ not violent extremists, Steve Zemek/NCA, news dot com dot au, March 8, 2022 | Disturbing online posts of alleged terrorist plotters Josh and Benjamin Lucas revealed, Steve Zemek/NCA, The West Australian, March 8, 2022.

… and oh yeah …

4) Joey Watson @ ABC Radio National has produced a two-part documentary featuring a former fascist activist: Between 2015 and 2019, Michael* was a leader in the Australian alt-right movement. He was instrumental in building the presence of extreme rightwing groups, online and in the real world, before a series of shattering events forced him to pull away. For the first time, he tells his story in full.

See : Everyone wants to be Fuhrer | Part 1 /// Everyone wants to be Fuhrer | Part 2.