antifa notes (january 8, 2024)

[Update (January 13) : As noted by White Rose Society, ‘The ABC has reported on a violent assault in May 2023 in Adelaide’s CBD, carried out by National Socialist Network member Kane Brennand-Reynolds and another man, Martin Quinn.’ According to the report, ‘When he left the court on November 10, the ABC asked Brennand-Reynolds if he was a Nazi. He responded by performing what appeared to be a Nazi salute.’ Incidentally, on January 8, it became a federal offence to do a Nazi salute in public (see : Australia outlaws Nazi salute and hate symbols, Al Jazeera, January 8, 2024). Then again, that’s been the case in Italy for many years and ah, Giorgia Meloni fans can’t. won’t. don’t. stahp.]

Happy New Fear!

1)

Having previously utilised Christian nationalist crowdfunding site ‘Give Send Go’ to raise 50K+ to support their organising efforts in Australia (see, for example, Ballarat), the Melbourne-based neo-Nazi groupuscule ‘National Socialist Network’ has launched another fundraiser to allegedly help support the construction of a regional/rural enclave for angwy Aryans, one which they’ve dubbed ‘White Australian Community’ (see also : ‘Pioneer Little Europe’). You may remember Give Send Go from its corporate sponsorships of Warren Mundine’s ‘Conservative Political Action Conference’ (CPAC) in Sydney last year; as for the NSN, while its leader Tom Sewell and his sidekick Jacob Hersant escaped a custodial sentence for the crime of ‘violent disorder’ (they attacked some hikers) last year, Hersant celebrated their victory outside (((the courts))) with just a little bit too much enthusiasm, and copped another charge as a result. Finally, just before Christmas, nazi boxing instructor Tim Lutze (see ‘Legacy Boxing Gym’) claims that a car belonging to his wife was firebombed outside their home in Werribee. Nobody’s been arrested for the alleged incident, it seems, but it did remind me of a previous arson in Newcastle involving members of another neo-Nazi cell, linked to the NSN, called ‘Activ88’. On that occasion, an older nazi, Ben Thomas, allegedly groomed a younger nazi in order to perform the act (see also : Inside Australia’s ‘terrorgram’: How neo-Nazism spreads in our cities, Nick McKenzie, The Age, August 4, 2022 /// Antifascist Action Wollongong).

BONUS! Unravel True Crime! Firebomb! ‘Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. It’s 1988 and as the rest of Australia celebrates the nation’s bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Thirty-five years on, most of us have never heard about it, even though it’s one of the few sustained and coordinated terrorism campaigns in Australia’s history.’

2)

I suppose I should note the death of the blog ‘New Australian Bulletin’. Published by a convicted stalker, doll-collector and racist bizarr0 called Nathan Sykes, NAB continued in the tradition of ye olde ‘Whitelaw Towers’ blog, functioning as a kind of online shit-sheet for veteran fascist Dr Jim Saleam’s ‘Australia First Party’, in which Mr Sykes (wearing various hats — just as he did when he was producing batshit commentary for Andrew Anglin’s Daily Stormer website) flailed away at Dear Leader’s critics. Sadly, despite these valiant efforts, the chief difficulty facing Jim and Nathan’s party remains its failure to lower the demographic, now happily colonised by their rivals in the NSN (see : Matthew Grant’s Gun Club).

Oh and speaking of political rivals for the White nationalist banner, PHONy has been treated to some wagyu beef courtesy of Australia’s Greatest Poet AKA billionaire heiress Gina Reinhart.

See also : Yeah Nah Pasaran! #189 w Jordan McSwiney on Far-Right Political Parties in Australia : December 7, 2023.

3)

Spencer Sunshine has examined the fortunes of the far-right in the United States in 2023 in The Far Right Is Growing Stronger—and Has a Plan for 2024 in which he notes that, while ‘the far right has dropped off the radar of many Americans’ (because war, economics and elections):

Another reason for this oversight is because far-right ideas have permeated American politics. Although the alt right collapsed, its goal of shifting the “Overton window”—the spectrum of what is considered legitimate political discourse—succeeded. Today, white supremacist, anti-LGBTQ+, and even antisemitic conspiracy theories have become so prevalent that what was taboo even in 2018 is accepted by many as not only normal but acceptable. However, observers of the far right are keenly aware of the movement’s continuing strength.

See also : Review: The Age of Insurrection [David Neiwert], Shane Burley, Political Research Associates, January 3, 2024.

In better news, Eric King is outta jail and Josh Fernandez gotta NEW! book out soon: The Hands That Crafted the Bomb (PM Press, 2024):

Josh Fernandez is a community college professor in Northern California who finds himself under investigation for “soliciting students for potentially dangerous activities” after starting an antifascist club on campus.

As Fernandez spends the year defending his job, he reflects on a life lived in protest of the status quo, swept up in chaos and rage, from his childhood in Boston dealing with a mentally ill father and a new family to a move to Davis, California, where, in the basement shows of the early ’90s, Nazi boneheads proliferated the music scene, looking for heads to crack. His crew’s first attempts at an antifascist group fall short when a member dies in a knife fight.

See also : In Defense of Ska Ep 155 Josh Fernandez (Author of “The Hands That Crafted The Bomb: The Making of a Lifelong Antifascist”) | Aaron Carnes | First-Generation Ska.

Finally, Daryle Lamont Jenkins of One People’s Project is in need of some halp after a health crisis. Please donate to his gofundme if you can.