Neo-Nazis brawl with Antifa in Melbourne
Shocking scenes have unfolded in Melbourne as mask-wearing neo-Nazis brawled with “anti-racist skinheads” in the middle of the street.
A “confrontation” between mask-wearing neo-Nazis and “anti-racist skinheads” took over the main street of an inner-city suburb of Melbourne on Friday night.
The scary scenes caught on video, in which no one was injured, were reportedly sparked after around a dozen neo-Nazis wearing black balaclavas, some armed with knives, attempted to gatecrash an “anti-fascist fundraiser” held at Cafe Gummo in Thornbury.
Social media and CCTV footage aired by Nine News showed the two groups brawling in the middle of High Street as the neo-Nazis were chased away for several blocks by Antifa supporters chanting, “Nazi scum! Nazi scum!”
“Get the f**k out of here!” one person can be heard yelling.
Witness Brittany Wadforth told Nine News, “I thought they were filming a movie. Some of the men with the balaclavas were sort of waving their knives around. When I kept driving I noticed that people were turning around, so they must have been going for quite a distance.”
Police were called to the scene but no arrests were made.
“Police responded to a dispute between two groups of people in Thornbury on Friday night,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
“Officers were called to reports of the confrontation on High Street about 9pm. The majority of those involved dispersed upon police arrival. Officers spoke to several people but there were no complaints made and no reports of injuries. Enquiries are ongoing in relation to a shop window that was damaged during the incident.”
Victoria Police has urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A group of neo nazis has squared off with anti-fascists, in a terrifying brawl that took over Thornbury's main street. @ajhegarty9#9Newspic.twitter.com/B4OmCJmI9f
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) September 16, 2023
The event raising funds for anti-fascist researchers The White Rose Society and Black Peoples Union was hosted by Cafe Gummo and Melbourne SHARPs, or “Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice”.
“We heard members of National Socialist Network showed up to Cafe Gummo last night trying to intimidate but they ran at the sight of anti-fascist skinheads and other comrades,” The White Rose Society wrote on X.
The crowfunding campaign has raised more than $9800 so far, with 25 per cent of all proceeds to go to Black Peoples Union “in order to pay the rent and show solidarity with Indigenous sovereignty, liberation and their need for urgent mutual aid”.
Last month, the Victorian government announced legislation to ban the Nazi salute and other gestures and symbols in the state, following a series of high-profile incidents this year.
In March, around 30 neo-Nazis performed the Nazi salute on the steps of parliament in Melbourne’s CBD after crashing a rally by anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who goes by the moniker Posie Parker.
It was not suggested Ms Keen-Minshull had any link to the group.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews took to Twitter after the event to slam the “anti-trans activists” who had “gathered to spread hate”.
“I wish it didn’t have to be said, but clearly it does — Nazis aren’t welcome,” he wrote.
“Not on Parliament’s steps. Not anywhere. They were there to say the trans community don‘t deserve rights, safety or dignity. That’s what Nazis do. Their evil ideology is to scapegoat minorities – and it’s got no place here. And those who stand with them don’t, either.”
The following month, police were called to The Bavarian restaurant in Wantirna South after reports a group of men were performing Nazi salutes in honour of Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
Photos posted online showed about 20 men, including leader of the National Socialist Network, Thomas Sewell, inside the restaurant alongside a photograph of Hitler.
Mr Sewell said in a message on Telegram afterwards that the group had a “great and eventful night”.
“We enjoyed great German food, beer and company,” the message stated.
“Despite not breaking any laws and not disturbing a soul, we were set upon by a dozen scum from Victoria Police who were terribly upset we were celebrating this holy day instead of the government approved gay or pedophile holidays.”
Mr Sewell’s group attracted controversy again in July when around 300 protesters descended on a neo-Nazi powerlifting event at Legacy Boxing Gym in Sunshine West.
“No hate, no fear! Nazis are not welcome here,” the group chanted.
The protest was run by the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism group.
“Never again — that’s our message,” said Jasmine Duff, rally organiser for Campaign Against Racism and Fascism.
“Neo-Nazis are desperately trying to build a following, and they’re doing it in the heart of one of Melbourne’s most multicultural suburbs. We’re protesting to show that we stand intransigently against Nazism, and against racism and bigotry in all its forms. We’re fighting for a world where no one has to live in fear of fascism, racism or oppression.”
Under the new laws introduced to parliament last month, anyone who intentionally displays or performs a Nazi symbol or gesture in public will face penalties of more than $23,000, 12 months imprisonment or both.
“Victorians have zero tolerance for the glorification of hateful ideology,” Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said in a statement.
“We’re making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable for their cowardly behaviour. While we wish making these laws wasn’t necessary, we will always tackle antisemitism, hatred and racism head-on — because all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included.”
The Victorian government said the Summary Offences (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023 had been informed by feedback from the Jewish community, Holocaust survivors, Victoria Police, the Ethnic Community Council of Victoria, and “other stakeholders who made it clear the distress previous incidents have caused to the wider community”.
The new laws will ban a “broad range of symbols and gestures used by the historic Nazi Party and its paramilitary organisations”, including “anything which closely resembles a Nazi symbol or gesture, ensuring that people who deliberately try to circumvent the ban and spread hate are punished”.
Exceptions will apply if the performance or display of a Nazi symbol or gesture is “done in good faith for a genuine academic, artistic, educational or scientific purpose, or in the course of publishing a fair and accurate report of any matter that is in the public interest”, the government said.
The bill was applauded by the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC).
“Today, the journey that I embarked on six years ago to de-Nazify Victoria for good has begun,” ADC chair Dr Dvir Abramovich said in a statement after the announcement.
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“It is beyond words that those inflamed with vicious antisemitism who have weaponised this evil gesture as a rallying cry to recruit like-minded racists and terrorise the community still have the law on their side, but not for long.”
— with NCA NewsWire
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