Revealed: the far-right agitators who confronted the PM in a hotel lobby

One of two far-right agitators who confronted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a Melbourne hotel lobby has previously said people should train “to be able to kill” and posts footage of himself online wielding machineguns and rocket launchers.

The other, who also approached Albanese in a filmed confrontation Tuesday, helped organise massive anti-lockdown protests, which were attended by conspiracy theorists.

Daniel Jones has posted footage of himself online wielding machineguns.

Fresh security fears have been raised after two men confronted Albanese at a hotel on the campaign trail, demanding answers over housing and immigration, despite an apparent increase in safety measures for politicians.

The exchanges were circulated by far-right social media accounts.

Daniel Jones, who has served as a bodyguard to far-right figure Avi Yemini, said on social media on Wednesday that he had walked unchallenged into the hotel lobby before he confronted Albanese and asked him questions about immigration.

Jones, a self-proclaimed self-defence expert, has previously said that people should “train to make it easy to be able to kill”, according to posts unearthed online and seen by The Age.

His company’s social media accounts are littered with videos of Jones trying out powerful weapons and offering his political views.

Daniel Jones, who runs a self-defence outfit, has posted pictures and videos of himself wielding guns and even rocket launchers online.Credit: Facebook

On Wednesday, Jones posted a video saying Albanese was never in any danger from him during his approach. He claimed he had “walked clean through the front door of the lobby because there was no security”.

Jones has previously been photographed at events and gym training sessions run in 2018 by the Lads Society, which was led by white supremacists such as Thomas Sewell and Blair Cottrell.

In recent years, Jones’ self-defence group has been labelled vigilantism by Victoria Police for vowing to set up citizen patrols.

While Jones’ most high-profile work has been for Yemini, accompanying him to numerous protests and video stunts, he has also worked for far-right Freedom Party candidate Aidan McLindon, who was on Wednesday  suspended as the mayor of Whittlesea.

Daniel Jones posted images of himself attacking a dummy with a knife to his social media accountCredit: Instagram

In a video posted last October by his self-defence outfit, Jones said he did not support Nazism but argued against the outlawing of the Nazi salute in Victoria, warning of Australia turning into a nanny state.

In December, he posted a photo of himself having “a bit of fun with a rocket launcher”.

“Victoria Police are useless, in fact, one could argue we will need to learn to defend ourselves against their thuggery,” his self-defence outfit posted last month, flagging it would be training “a small trusted group” in defence in the coming days.

Far-right group Melbourne Freedom Rally – which has claimed responsibility for one of the confrontations with Albanese – led rowdy protests against COVID lockdowns, including erecting a wooden gallows outside Victoria’s parliament.

The group’s key organiser Harrison Mclean also posted the video confrontations on his own social media account and has himself been associated with The Proud Boys.

Researcher Dr Kaz Roz, who tracks far-right extremism online, said: “We shouldn’t kid ourselves that these are everyday people who have stumbled across politicians. They are here from the far right to sow division.”

Neither of the men in the videos threatened anyone directly.

Following up with an online video Wednesday, Jones offered some advice for Albanese’s security team, who he said should have done more to anticipate threats.

“I can see how we could be seen as a minor threat because it upsets people, [but] we’re not a major threat,” he added.

The government and opposition had previously indicated safety measures would be increased following embarrassing security breaches for both parties on the first day of the election campaign.

That included heckling from fringe anti-immigrant writer Laurence McIntyre. Two days ago masked neo-Nazis staged a protest outside a Liberal MP’s Melbourne office.

Jones and the Melbourne Freedom Rally have been contacted for comment.

With Marta Pascual Juanola

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