Outrage after McKinnon restaurant hosts neo-Nazi dinner, calls it a ‘silly misjudgement’

A southeast Melbourne restaurant that blacked out its windows to host a major gathering of right-leaning “traditionalists”, including neo-Nazis, has apologised, citing a “silly misjudgment” of management.

Urban Street restaurant in McKinnon hosted a gathering of right-leaning ‘traditionalists’ including neo-Nazis over the weekend. Picture: Facebook

A southeast Melbourne restaurant claims they unknowingly hosted a gathering of right-leaning “traditionalists”, including well known neo-Nazis, at an event over the weekend.

Urban Street restaurant in McKinnon has sparked community outrage after they hosted members of the National Workers Alliance at a gathering to discuss “current political issues” on Saturday evening.

Close to 100 people gathered at the popular restaurant, including controversial figures and prominent neo-Nazis Thomas Sewell, Joel Davis and Blair Cotrell.

The venue said it put black plastic sheets over windows that had vision to the presentation area at the request of the gatherers.

Former Neighbours star Damien Richardson was also at the event, where he allegedly delivered a speech to event-goers.

Days after the meeting, posters calling for the community to boycott Urban Street were circulated within the Glen Eira community.

Community members take to Urban Street’s Instagram page to share their outrage over the event. Picture: Instagram

The restaurant has been accused of deleting comments and reviews referring to the neo-Nazi event. Picture: Instagram

The posters exposed alleged details of the gathering, even accusing Mr Richardson of performing a Nazi salute during the event.

“We cannot let neo-Nazis organise and recruit in our communities. Businesses that support anti-Semitism must be shut down,” one of the posters reads.

Mr Richardson has been contacted for comment in relation to the allegations.

NWA founder Matthew Trihey said Saturday’s gathering was merely to discuss issues of “mass immigration” and reaffirmed it was not a far-right meeting.

Mr Trihey describes himself as a right-leaning traditionalist, who had previously ascribed to a group whose members went on to create neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network.

He added he had no control who attended the ticketed event, saying participants in attendance encompassed a wide range of people from either end of the political spectrum.

“It was a discussion about the importance of western civilisation and the effect mass immigration was having on western countries,” he said.

When asked about allegations of the Nazi salute being acted during the meeting, Mr Trihey said: “A gentleman made a joke about it but he did not give a Nazi salute.”

Urban Street blacked out its windows that had vision into the event space with plastic sheets for the event. Picture: Facebook

The restaurant is now considering shutting its doors. Picture: Facebook

In the wake of the gathering, community anger against Urban Street has festered, with the restaurant considering shutting its doors for the time being.

An Urban Street spokesman defended their decision to host the gathering, saying “under no circumstances” were they made aware of the NWA’s involvement.

The spokesman said a manager at Urban Street was told the event would be about “immigration” but they were not given any further details about the nature of the conference.

“We have (since) dismissed the manager for an error in judgement,” the spokesman added.

“We sincerely apologise if we offended anybody it was never our intention, we are not a place that holds any type of events that promote any type of racism.”

The Urban Street spokesman said the venue was now “too scared to reopen” after they received negative backlash from the community.

“Chances are we are going to end up closing our business because of this,” they said.

“Because of a silly misjudgement where we got f--ked over because no one told us the truth.”

Urban Street take to Instagram to issue an apology and confirm its management team has been dismissed. Picture: Instagram

In response to the allegations, Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto said he was appalled to hear a neo-Nazi group was allowed to conduct a “recruitment drive” out of the venue and urged police to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

“The reports that a neo-Nazi group met at a suburban cafe in McKinnon, close to the heart of the Melbourne Jewish community, for a recruitment drive is deeply alarming,” Mr Cassuto said.

“There has been an explosion of extremism in Victoria, and we cannot allow further hatred and anti-Semitism to flourish on our streets.

“We trust the police will conduct a proper and thorough investigation.”

Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell, pictured at a rally last year, attended the event at Urban Street. Picture: NCA NewsWire

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the alleged conference would be “assessed” after they became aware of posters concerning an alleged “anti-Semitic and racist gathering” had taken place.

She added there had been no complaints or official reports about the posters and they were unable to confirm the gathering occurred.

Regardless, the spokeswoman said: “There is absolutely no place in our society for hate-based behaviour and Victoria Police works closely with various community groups to ensure the public feels safe and supported,” the spokeswoman said.

Originally published as Outrage after McKinnon restaurant hosts neo-Nazi dinner, calls it a ‘silly misjudgement’