Fundraiser in support of bartender who spat in neo-Nazi’s beer raising money for queer charities

The Melbourne bartender who spat in a neo-Nazi’s beer and lost his job has won support from the community with an event the white supremacists will hate.

A Melbourne bartender who was fired after he spat in a known neo-Nazi’s beer has received support from the Irish community in Australia as a ‘No bar for Nazis’ event is planned.

The young man from the Irish Times pub on Little Collins Street was standing up for what he believes in when he took offence at the Sonnenrad — or “sun wheel” — on the shoulder of white supremacist Jimeone Roberts and spat in his beer.

The action cost him his job and allegedly cost his manager $651 when there were threats made (and followed through on by others) about negative reviews for the venue on Google.

Including the number 51 in the demand is sinister because it represents the number of people killed in the Christchurch massacre — a massacre carried out by a neo-Nazi who is idolised by the ultra-nationalist community in Melbourne.

Footage from the immediate aftermath of the alleged spitting incident shows a group of men confronting the bartender.

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Jimeone Roberts, left, the bartender, right, and the sun wheel tattoo that sparked the confrontation.

One of the men was Mr Roberts, who was last month convicted for putting up anti-Semitic posters in Melbourne’s streets — an act a Melbourne judge said was among “the most disgusting, vile, repugnant acts of anti-Semitism and racial behaviour that I have ever seen”.

“I’d like it if you guys (would) leave,” the bartender says to Mr Roberts and his associates.

“I want to have my say,” one of the customers shoots back.

“Go ahead. What do you have to say?” asks the bartender.

“You spat in the bloke’s beer,” says the customer, which the employee acknowledges with the word “yeah”.

“End of discussion. I don’t give a rat’s arse if you don’t like what he wears, what he chooses in his particular life. At the end of the day mate, you spat in the bloke’s beer.”

“It was a sign of disrespect,” the bartender explains.

“You reckon it’s appropriate to spit in a guy’s beer?” the man says.

“If I went to my work and started spitting in my boss’s face, you reckon he’s going to accept that? It makes me feel ill?”

“If it makes you feel ill, the bathroom’s upstairs,” quips the bartender.

“So now you’re being smart. You can’t help yourself,” says the customer.

“Most Irishmen know how to fight,” a second patron interjects, alluding to the employee’s Irish accent.

Jimeone Roberts' Sonnenrad 'sun wheel' tattoo. Picture: Supplied

“I don’t know how to fight, man. I know how to get beat up,” replies the bartender.

“If you’re going to be a smartass and you’re going to spit in people’s beers, you may need to be able to back up what you do,” the second customer says.

As the group of men prepares to leave, one of them asks what time the bartender’s shift ends. He also asks for the employee’s name and phone number.

“At the end of the day, it’s time for you guys to go,” the employee says.

After the incident, the business posted an apology to the customers on its Facebook page.

“The Irish Times management would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Jimeone Roberts and his friends Stefanos, Neil Erikson, Thomas Sewell and Ricky T for the incident that took place on August 2,” it said.

“Following the incident, the Irish Times management took immediate disciplinary action by terminating the two employees involved in the event, which violated our workplace code of conduct.

A fundraiser has since emerged raising money for a queer charity chosen by pub staff members.

Publican Nitin Parashar from The Irish Times pub was allegedly asked to pay the men $651 to avoid negative reviews about the venue. Picture: Mark Stewart

The No Bar for Nazi’s event has been organised by the James Connolly Association of Australia, which supports Irish diaspora, and the Community Union Defence League.

On a Facebook page for the fundraiser, organisers said ex-staff who lost their jobs have struggled financially but “such is their pride that when offered the opportunity to potentially recoup their losses through a fundraiser their response was to request any donations be forwarded to charity”.

“Thanks to the nazi’s choice of slurs, an LGBTQI+ charity has been chosen to be the recipient of any funds raised,” the fundraiser reads.

The event will take place on September 10 at a venue to be determined. Organisers said they were conscious of the need to keep some information private.

“We care for the safety of our comrades and will do everything in our power to minimise the risks posed by these Nazi goons,” the fundraiser said.

“We need to be careful in what undue attention publicly announcing the charity so that we don’t inadvertently make them a target.”