By Michael Koziol
Premier Chris Minns has warned police could tear the balaclavas off Nazis gathering in NSW and expose them as “massive racists” to their friends, family and colleagues following their occupation of a Sydney park on Sunday morning.
NSW Police said it concluded an operation in Artarmon just after 11am and there was no threat to public safety. Pictures posted by social media users showed men dressed in black, some wearing balaclavas, gathering in Artarmon Reserve.
It comes two days after police stopped a group of men in similar attire at North Sydney station while they were on their away to Australia Day events in the CBD.
Minns said the “fascist, ridiculous behaviour” had no place in NSW and warned police had the power to rip balaclavas off people and expose their identities. “You’ll be exposed as a racist to your family, your friends, your work colleagues,” he said.
The premier said many of the neo-Nazis gathering in Sydney over the Australia Day long weekend were from interstate.
“They’re importing hate and fascism into NSW, and we don’t want it,” he said. “If it wasn’t so nauseating ... it would be absurd and pathetic. The bottom line is we’re not going to allow it.”
In 2022, both NSW and Victoria banned the public display of Nazi flags and symbols. Minns said the government was examining those laws to see if they needed to be strengthened in relation to prohibiting additional gestures, such as the Sieg Heil salute.
On Friday, the self-appointed leader of Australia’s neo-Nazis, Thomas Sewell, 30, was among the men ordered to stay away from Sydney’s Australia Day events.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said it was shocking to see gangs of neo-Nazis roaming the streets.
“It has been said to me by numerous community members since October 7 that they feel relief that their parents or grandparents who survived the Holocaust are not alive to see this fresh descent into madness,” he said.
“This should be a source of shame and deep collective reflection on how little we have learnt and how feeble have been the actions of righteous people in the face of rising evil.”
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