A man who performed a Nazi salute in front of a transgender pride march in November said he was “ignorant” and didn’t want to go to jail, as a magistrate slammed his actions as “unacceptable”.
Felix Kiera fronted Newtown Local Court on Tuesday, accused of stepping in front of the Trans Day of Resistance March on Camperdown’s Victoria Street in November 2024, performing a Nazi salute and making “threatening remarks”.
Felix Kiera leaves Newtown Local Court on Tuesday. Credit: Kate Geraghty
When officers arrested the 21-year-old and told him it was illegal in NSW to perform a Nazi salute, he said it was not an offence but a legitimate political statement.
The court appearance comes amid a spate of antisemitic attacks across Sydney, which have prompted Premier Chris Minns to promise a crackdown on the “bastards out there who are determined to rip our community in two”.
“The message has to get out to the community that this is just unacceptable,” magistrate Alexander Mijovich said when convicting Kiera, who had pleaded guilty, and fining him $1000.
Asked if he wanted to go to prison, Kiera told the magistrate, “No”.
“I was ignorant,” he said.
Mijovich asked Kiera if he read the newspapers or watched the news. “Not particularly,” he replied.
“Perhaps you should,” the magistrate responded.
The maximum penalty for performing a Nazi salute is 12 months imprisonment. Mijovich said he had reduced the consequences for Kiera because of his age and lack of criminal history.
Kiera remained silent as he left court, while his father told reporters his son was not a Nazi and was sorry.
Sydney’s Trans Day of Resistance in November 2024. Credit: Instagram
Newtown Synagogue and Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah were last week graffitied with swastikas in the latest spate of antisemitic attacks across the city. The vandalism sparked an investigation by counter-terror police, and a pledge from the NSW premier that the perpetrators will face the “full force of the law”.
“There is no place for people who commit acts like the vile ones we have seen over the past week, and there is no place for people who knowingly protect these people from consequences,” Minns said on Sunday morning.
“I cannot be clearer. What has happened is a crime, and anyone who has knowledge of a crime has an absolute duty to report it to the police.”
Earlier this month, a man was charged after allegedly making a gun gesture with his hand toward a synagogue in St Ives on the North Shore. The same week, a car was graffitied in the city’s east with the phrase “f--- the Jews”.
Sydney’s east has been targeted in multiple antisemitic vandalism incidents, including in November last year when multiple cars and buildings, including Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant, were graffitied and a ute set on fire. Two men remain before the courts over the incident.
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correction
A previous version of this story incorrectly spelt the surname of Felix Kiera.