Climate protester Eric Herbert’s triplet sisters defend him after jail sentence

The ‘twinstagram’ model sisters of a climate protester who was jailed after blocking a coal train say they are “f***ing” mad he is behind bars.

The influencer model sisters of a climate protester who was jailed for a year for blocking coal trains in the NSW Hunter have compared him to Nelson Mandela while blasting authorities for putting their brother behind bars.

Eric Serge Herbert, 22, was jailed for 12 months on Monday after he pleaded guilty to obstructing a train and attempting to hinder mining equipment by climbing onto a carriage during a protest organised by Blockade Australia activists.

Model sisters Elisha and Renee Herbert.

But Eric’s triplet sisters Elisha and Renee Herbert, who are high-profile ‘twinstagram’ models with more than three million followers combined, took to social media to declare support for their brother, who is also facing charges in the ACT.

The Herbert sisters, who live and work as models in Los Angeles but are originally from Caloundra in Queensland, wrote they were “f***ing mad” at officials for jailing him, with Elisha calling her brother one of the “most innocent, precious people just trying to do good for the planet.”

“My triplet brother just got sentenced to a year in prison for stopping a coal train and fighting against climate change on behalf of all of us,” 22 year-old Elisha wrote on Instagram on Tuesday night.

Eric Herbert outside court in 2019. Picture: Glenn Hunt

The triplets.

The models have been living in the US.

“The fact that people are getting no time in jail for raping and killing people yet a climate change activist gets a year is f***ing beyond me. I’m so f***ing mad.”

Elisha also alleged Eric had been banned from contacting his girlfriend, whose phone and car had been confiscated by investigators – and that no one else in their family could reach him.

“How the f*** is this legal … they treat actual criminals better than this,” the model wrote, before comparing her brother to major social justice figures like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks.

“Have a think of these people who were courageous enough to know the consequences and still ‘commit’ the crime for a better world,” she wrote alongside pictures of the modern history icons.

But Ms Herbert later defended the comparison and clarified: “I literally just posted that to show people who are saying if you commit a crime you should be in jail.”

The male Herbert was one of at least 29 people arrested this month in relation to the protests organised by climate change protest group Blockade Australia.

Elisha Herbert’s post on Instagram.

The sisters claim they have been unable to speak to their brother.

A photo of Herbert posted on the Blockade Australia Facebook page on November 10 shows him standing on top of a freight train’s coal carriage with a fist raised to the sky.

The jail term is the latest in a string of brushes with the law for the 22 year-old, who was fined in May for chaining himself to a parliamentary BMW used to drive MPs in the ACT, and was given six months’ probation in 2019 for locking himself onto a car in Queensland during an Extinction Rebellion protest.

He was also fined $400 in July for a climate change poster at Bega Local Court in July.

Sister Renee also chimed in, revealing “passionate activist” Eric had quit his university degree to protest full-time.

A protest against their brother’s jail sentence has been organised.

“We are outraged and disgusted … you won’t silence him,” Ms Herbert posted online.

“As a sister of a loving, caring sweet and passionate man- I demand justice for Eric. This is just wrong and deeply upsetting.”

She blamed the government for her brother’s jail sentence.

“Maybe if they stop imprisoning and silencing climate activists started paying attention to the climate damage that they condone, young aware individuals wouldn’t feel the moral obligation to do this in the first place,” Ms Herbert wrote.

“This is so deeply disturbing … all he wants is justice and peace for the world like all of us.”

“He won’t stop, we won’t stop.”

The sisters also posted information about a gathering being held in Brisbane to protest Eric’s imprisonment, writing that while they “cant be there”, they wanted followers to help “rally for Eric’s freedom and against state oppression”.

The protest will be held at 4pm QLD time today outside Brisbane Magistrates Court.