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National Socialist Network

The National Socialist Network (NSN) is an Australian neo-Nazi political organisation formed from two far-right organisations, the Lads Society and the Antipodean Resistance, in 2020.[1][2] The organisation, based in Melbourne, claims to be active in all six state capitals and several regional cities.[2][3] The group has used the protests against COVID-19 policies[4][3] and other methods, such as media manipulation and attention-grabbing, to recruit new members.[5]

National Socialist Network
AbbreviationNSN
Predecessor
Formation2020; 4 years ago (2020)
TypeNeo-Nazi extremist organization
Purpose
HeadquartersVictoria
Location
Leader
Thomas Sewell
Leader
Jacob Hersant
AffiliationsEuropean Australian Movement
Action Zealandia
Websitenational-socialist-network.info

The organisation, whose membership is unknown, is led by Thomas Sewell,[1][6][7] former ADF member, Neo-Nazi,[6] and convicted criminal.[8] The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) released a report on 5 October 2022, in which it classified the National Socialist Network as a "white nationalist," "antisemitic," and "neo-Nazi" group.[9]

Activities

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2020

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In 2020, a group of NSN members in Melbourne performed a Nazi salute and displayed a neo-Nazi flag at Swinburne University. A photo of the incident, shared on their Facebook page, included a caption stating: "NSN would like to thank the student body and faculty for letting us promote National Socialism on campus without opposition. Swinburne for the White man!" A university spokesperson responded: "Swinburne University of Technology abhors the comments, and the symbols depicted in the photograph taken on our campus. The views and ideas of groups such as this run counter to everything our university stands for, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms."[10]

2021

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Further information: 2021 Grampians neo-Nazi trip
This section is an excerpt from Far-right terrorism in Australia § Grampians neo-Nazi trip (2021).[edit]

On the Australia Day weekend in January 2021, the National Socialist Network, a new group created by members of the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society under the latter's leader Thomas Sewell, were observed parading Nazi paraphernalia and harassing bystanders at several locations around the Grampians National Park in Victoria. One Halls Gap resident said: "There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting ‘white power’".[11] They were reported to have chanted "sieg heil" and "white power", burnt a cross, and posted stickers saying "Australia For The White Man".[12]

Concerned citizens reported them to the police, who confronted the group and later collected video evidence from security videos. Victoria Police's Counter Terrorism Command and ASIO were notified, and the incident was widely covered in the media.[11] One antisemitism expert called for the group to be branded a terrorist group, saying, "We know that there is a direct link between incitement, between vilification … and shooting rampages that we saw not just in Christchurch, but in other places".[12]

2022

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This section is an excerpt from Far-right terrorism in Australia § South Australia (2022).[edit]
After a group of neo-Nazis had posted photographs of themselves giving fascist salutes outside the Adelaide Holocaust Museum, concerns were raised about the activities of groups such as the National Socialist Network in South Australia. On 2 September 2022, SA Minister for Multicultural Affairs Zoe Bettison said there would be a Parliamentary inquiry into "neo-Nazi symbols, the activities of extremist groups, discrimination faced by targeted groups and the prohibition on symbols in other states".[13]

2023

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Members of the National Socialist Network doing Nazi salutes on 18 March 2023

In early January 2023, flyers belonging to the National Socialist Network were found in circulation in East Brisbane, Queensland.[14]

On 13 January 2023, a Melbourne Magistrates Court sentenced Thomas Sewell to 150 hours of community service to be completed in 18 months.[15]

On 26 January 2023, members of the NSN held a protest in Coburg, Victoria, where they displayed banners.[16]

On 18 March 2023, approximately 30 members of the NSN, including Thomas Sewell,[17] attended a rally in Melbourne in support of British anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who spoke at the rally while visiting the city on her Australian and New Zealand tour. Members of the NSN marched down Spring Street, displayed a banner, performed Nazi salutes on the stairs of Parliament House, and referred to transgender people as paedophiles. A counterprotest attended by transgender rights protesters clashed with the group. While the police, including several mounted officers, attempted to separate the two groups, it was reported that pepper spray was used at least once.[18] The events were condemned by the Labor Party,[19] the Liberal Party[20] and the Greens.[21]

On 13 May, neo-Nazi and anti-fascist groups clashed in Melbourne at an anti-immigration rally, organised by NSN.[22][23] Police made several arrests on both sides, while also deploying capsicum spray. A police officer was also hit with pepper spray.[22] Federal government minister Chris Bowen labelled the rally "unspeakably un-Australian", calling the neo-Nazis who participated a "fringe of political lunatics who have no place in modern Australia".[23] The rally was also condemned across both sides of the Victorian Parliament, described as "toxic bigotry and hate" and "disgraceful and cowardly".[22]

On 15 September 2023, a group of NSN activists attempted to disrupt an antifascist fundraiser at Cafe Gummo in Thornbury, Victoria. The event, hosted by Melbourne SHARPs, aimed to support the White Rose Society and the Black People's Union. In response, antifascist activists chased the NSN members several blocks, chanting "Nazi scum!" Witnesses reported that some of the masked NSN members were armed, although no arrests were made as individuals dispersed down side streets.[24][25] One witness told Nine News that some of the masked neo-Nazis were armed with knives.[25] The crowdfunding campaign raised more than $9,800.[25]

On 13 October 2023, after the candlelight vigil event for Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and ahead of pro-Palestinian protests in the city, the group gathered outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, displaying an antisemitic banner at the station entrance under police surveillance; then the group members went inside the station, performing Roman salutes while going down an escalator, and boarded a Werribee Line train. While on the train they asked passengers whether they are Jewish or not, handed out NSN's "business cards" and another racist flier; they also sung the Australian national anthem as well as a white racist anthem. After the incident, State officials including Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the action and described the group as "cowardly neo-Nazis". The State of Victoria subsequently passed legislation banning public displays of the Roman salute which took effect on 21 October of the same year.[26][27]

 
NSN members march through Ballarat

On 3 December, around 40 members of the NSN, led by Thomas Sewell, marched through the streets of Ballarat on the 169th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade. The group displayed a banner with the phrase, "Australia For The White Man" as they marched in through the city.[28] A 15-year-old boy was questioned over his use of the Nazi salute in support of the group.[29] Residents condemned the march as 'frightening'.[29]

2024

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On 26 January 2024, Australia Day, a group of NSN members, led by Thomas Sewell, were detained by New South Wales Police at the North Sydney railway station. An officer issued Sewell and his group a legal order banning them from attending any Australia Day events in the City of Sydney, citing a risk to public safety and Sewell's history of crime and public order incidents.[30][31]

Roughly 40 members of the Victorian chapter held a flash rally in late July where they marched from Melbourne’s Fed Square to Flinders Street Station, clad in all black and carrying a large "Mass Deportations Now" banner. Jacob Hersant was "arrested at the scene and was interviewed for grossly offensive public conduct,” a spokesperson for Victoria Police said.[32][33]

In the weeks following the 2024 UK Riots, 70 NSN members marched through the streets of Brisbane and posed in front of multiple landmarks whilst holding a banner which called for a "Free England".[34][35] Multiple arrests were made with a 19-year-old Victorian man being charged with "inciting others to incite vilification".[36]

On 16 August, a large group of NSN members in Melbourne hijacked a refugee encampment that had been setup outside the office of Home Affairs and which had been calling for permanent visas. The NSN stood in a line with a large banner that read "Fuck Off; We're Full"[37] and chanted offensive comments at the refugees and their supporters. The organizers of the rally suggested that remarks made earlier in the week by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, regarding the refusal of asylum to refugees from the Gaza conflict, may have emboldened the neo-Nazi group.[38]

Roughly 50 members of the National Socialist Network held a rally through the town of Corowa, New South Wales, protesting against the local piggery's takeover by multinational meat processor JBS.[39] The group marched through the town with a "White Man Fight Back" banner objecting to JBS’s employment of immigrant workers, particularly from the Philippines, after acquiring Rivalea’s plant in 2022. Police dispersed the protest without making arrests.[40]

Around 40 members of the National Socialist Network held a protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Toorak, Melbourne, calling for the extradition of a Chinese national suspected of pouring hot coffee on a baby in a park.[41][42] According to a friend in China, the man allegedly sought “revenge on white people” after being denied another Australian visa.[43] During the protest, National Socialist Network members displayed a banner, burned portraits of the suspect, Mao Zedong, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as the Chinese flag.[41][42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b McKenzie, Nick; Tozer, Joel (27 January 2021). "Neo-Nazis go bush: Grampians gathering highlights rise of Australia's far right". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend.
  2. ^ a b Paynter, Jack (13 October 2020). "Alarm as neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network expands to Adelaide". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b Paynter, Jack (8 March 2021). "How extreme right-wing groups have 'weaponised the internet' in Australia". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ Kelly, Cait (26 October 2021). "How neo-Nazis are using anti-lockdown protests to recruit new members". The New Daily. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  5. ^ Wilson, Cam (20 April 2021). "Leaked neo-Nazis' manual reveals they're manipulating Australia's media to recruit new members". Crikey. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b Estcourt, David (3 March 2021). "Neo-Nazi group leader charged with assault of Channel Nine security guard". The Age. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Australian neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell charged over alleged armed robbery". ABC News. 14 May 2021. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell's vile act outside court after sentence for assault on Nine Network security guard". Kalgoorlie Miner. 23 January 2023. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  9. ^ "GPAHE report: Far-Right Hate and Extremist Groups in Australia". Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  10. ^ Burke, Kelly (6 July 2020). "Melbourne's Swinburne University condemns 'abhorrent' white supremacists' photo". Seven News. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  11. ^ a b McKenzie, Nick; Tozer, Joel (27 January 2021). "The Australian Neo-Nazi movements going bush: Grampians cross burning spurs call for action". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  12. ^ a b Darling, Alexander (28 January 2021). "Calls for cross-burning neo-Nazis camped in The Grampians to be classified as terrorist group". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  13. ^ Katsaras, Jason (2 September 2022). "Neo-Nazis prompt SA parliamentary inquiry". InDaily. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. ^ McMillan, Isabel (10 January 2023). "'Unthinkable' neo-Nazi act in ritzy NSW, Qld suburbs". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell avoids jail time over 'brutal' attack on Nine Network security guard". Guardian Australia. 12 January 2023. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  16. ^ Pascual Juanola, Marta; Dexter, Rachael (26 January 2023). "Holocaust survivors call for Nazi salute to be outlawed in Victoria". The Age. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  17. ^ Fox Koobe, Simone; Ward, Roy (19 March 2023). "Government may amend anti-vilification laws after neo-Nazis salute on Spring Street". The Age. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Nazi salutes performed on steps of Victorian parliament as protesters clash over trans rights". SBS News. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  19. ^ Beazley, Jordyn; Readfearn, Graham; Readfearn (earlier), Graham (18 March 2023). "Neo-Nazis and trans rights protesters clash in Melbourne; bushfire alert for parts of Great Ocean Road – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  20. ^ "Protesters clash in Melbourne over transgender rights". Daily Liberal. 18 March 2023. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  21. ^ Thomas, Shibu (19 January 2023). "After Protests Against Drag Shows, Neo-Nazis Perform Hitler Salute At Melbourne Lookout". Star Observer. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  22. ^ a b c Yu, Andi; Hosier, Phoebe (15 September 2023). "Federal government labels neo-Nazis 'political lunatics' following violent clash at anti-immigration rally". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  23. ^ a b Bucci, Nino (13 May 2023). "Neo-Nazis clash with police and counter-protesters at anti-immigration rally in Melbourne". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  24. ^ Dabbas, Maria (24 September 2023). "Campaign continues against Melbourne's neo-Nazi gym". Red Flag. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023. Saturday's protest followed a recent attempt by NSN members to disrupt an anti-fascist fundraiser for the White Rose Society and the Black People's Union at Cafe Gummo, a left-wing gathering place in Thornbury. Though they intended to intimidate, the handful of Nazis instead were forced to flee up High Street.
  25. ^ a b c Frank, Chung (19 September 2023). "Neo-Nazis brawl with Antifa in Melbourne". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  26. ^ Millar, Royce (14 October 2023). "'Hateful and cowardly': Melbourne train protest probed after Nazi salutes, antisemitic threats". The Age. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Fact sheet: Ban of Nazi symbols and gestures". VIC Government. 21 October 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  28. ^ Ward, Roy (3 December 2023). "Community group condemns Nazi walk through Ballarat". The Age. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  29. ^ a b "White supremacist march 'really has no place in Ballarat', mayor says as police probe banned Nazi salute". ABC News. 3 December 2023. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  30. ^ Duffin, Perry; Harris, Christopher (26 January 2024). "Neo-Nazis confronted by Sydney police, banned from Australia Day events". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Anthony Albanese condemns balaclava-clad neo-Nazis who swarmed Sydney train". SBS News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Man arrested after Nazi protest in Melbourne". archive.is. 28 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. ^ "Man arrested after group of masked neo-Nazis storm Melbourne CBD". www.9news.com.au. 28 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  34. ^ "NSN Uncensored". Telegram. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  35. ^ Parnell, Sean (11 August 2024). "'You are not welcome in this city': Police move neo-Nazis on from CBD". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Incite vilification and obstruct police offences, Brisbane City". Queensland Police News. 12 August 2024. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  37. ^ "'F**k off we're full': neo-Nazis crash Melb refugee rally". archive.is. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. ^ "Alleged neo-Nazis target Melbourne refugee rally". www.9news.com.au. 17 August 2024. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  39. ^ "Nationalists protest foreign workers flooding Corowa". 12 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  40. ^ "White supremacists rally in country NSW town, angering locals". ABC News. 12 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  41. ^ a b Beatty, Liam (8 November 2024). "Prominent neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell complains about police harassment after Melbourne raids". The Australian. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  42. ^ a b Abbott, Lachlan (7 November 2024). "Neo-Nazis face charges after alleged Bunnings KKK harassment". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  43. ^ Keoghan, Alisha; Rouse, Sarah (4 October 2024). "Mum of coffee attack baby speaks out as Chinese national's alleged motive is revealed". Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
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