By Erin Pearson
A patron at a charity event is facing jail time for chasing a group of armed neo-Nazis, dressed in all black and sporting red flashing body-worn cameras, who had descended on the Thornbury fundraiser.
Benjamin Squire, 29, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week as the only person charged over the incident in which police allege a group threw metal chairs in a melee outside Cafe Gummo in August 2023.
Cafe Gummo.Credit: Jason South
The court heard a group of about 20 far-right radicals formed a line outside the bar to intimidate those inside, who had gathered to raise money for anti-fascist research group White Rose Society and Black Peoples Union, an Indigenous rights organisation.
Defence lawyer Luke McMahon told the court police were aware the High Street venue owner had been the victim of threats from far-right groups for holding fundraisers for queer and trans groups.
Members from the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network [NSN] arrived at the venue and “arranged themselves on the street” outside.
McMahon said patrons spotted the group and, fearing an attack similar to the Christchurch terror mass shooting could occur, went to warn others.
“The venue owner spotted them, he himself had been threatened by them since early 2020,” McMahon said. “They were wearing red flashing body-worn cameras.”
The court heard that as the NSN members formed a line outside, Squire and others approached them and asked that they leave.
Footage from nearby CCTV cameras allegedly captured some patrons covering their faces before kicks and punches were thrown.
Police allege those who had been inside the bar then chased the NSN members down the street, some arming themselves with metal chairs, before one was thrown, breaking a window.
Cafe Gummo.Credit: Jason South
Squire was charged with violent disorder.
The court heard the case was likely to hinge on whether Squire overstepped his right to defend himself.
McMahon denied his client was responsible for breaking any windows, and instead said NSN members had picked up and thrown chairs, while others were armed with weapons including baseball bats.
He argued that if the case had involved members of the Country Women’s Association responding in the same way they would not have been charged.
“Masked men, wearing flashing red lights, armed with baseball bats and other weapons – you would be terrified,” McMahon said.
“You would be within your rights to respond in this way. It would be terrifying.”
Magistrate Rose Falla said she had dealt with the charge of violent disorder only once before, in the case where AAMI Park soccer pitch invaders were prosecuted, but noted it carried a possible jail sentence.
Squire is accused of wearing a mask to conceal his face at the time of the alleged offending.
Squire faced court this week charged with violent disorder.Credit: Darrian Traynor
To prove the charge of violent disorder, the court heard the prosecution must prove six or more people, present together, threatened with a common goal or intention to cause injury or damage.
The matter is due to return to court in October.
The court hearing came in the same week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised Australia’s terrorism threat level for the first time in a decade amid concerns over politically motivated violence.
The growing isolation of young men and eight suspected extremist plots since April have put authorities on alert.
Authorities fear a complex mix of fringe ideologies – including anti-government conspiracy theories, racism, Islamist extremism and neo-Nazism – are blending with social media-fuelled personal grievance, intolerance, loneliness and mental ill health.
On Monday, ASIO boss Mike Burgess said instability within society had given rise to “twisted” ideologies that were not as easily defined as the Islamist threat that had sparked the previous rise in the terrorism threat level in 2014. He said the segment of Australian society prone to extremism was expanding.