‘Nazi capital': Chilling message about Aussie city after neo-Nazi march
About 100 masked members of the National Socialist Network (NSN) marched through Melbourne after midnight on Saturday, touting flags and a sign reading 'White Man Fight Back', while police looked on.
The march was condemned by leaders of the Jewish community and politicians - among them Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan, who called the participants 'goons'.
But the group has deemed the march a success and warned it was 'just the beginning'.
In a video shared with thousands of followers in private messaging app Telegram, NSN figure Joel Davis boasted the procession had been 'our biggest march in history'.
'People say that Melbourne is the left-wing capital of Australia - it's becoming the Nazi capital of Australia,' Mr Davis said.
'It was quite something because the police just had to accept our presence. We've been treated very poorly by the police in the past.
'We've now grown large enough that they simply have to accept the fact that we want to march... We're all on a dopamine rush because we know this is just the beginning.'
The march caused outrage and led Ms Allan to declare, 'Nazis don't belong in this country and they know it'.
'That's why they hide behind masks in the dark.'
The Jewish Council of Victoria, meanwhile, urged the state government to act when parliament resumes next week.
'Eight months after promising anti-masking and anti-hate symbol laws, the government must act now,' it said in a statement.
'They (the NSN) are a tiny fringe, rejected by the overwhelming majority of Victorians, who proudly embrace our multicultural communities.'
Victoria Police said officers responded to the protest to 'ensure public order was maintained'.
No arrests were made but a man was allegedly assaulted when he confronted the group, a police spokesperson said.
He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and as of Tuesday, police were still investigating the incident.
Footage circulated online appeared to show the moment a member of the public confronted the marchers and a fight broke out.
Messages from Mr Davis to the group also boasted the march had been the 'top story on the news tonight'.
He called on his followers to march again - next time, in a nationwide anti-immigration rally planned for August 31.
'This could be the beginning of something massive,' he said.
The 29-year-old Victoria man is currently facing a charge of displaying a Nazi symbol on a belt buckle at an earlier march in Adelaide on Australia Day.
His defence lawyer, Andrew Hopkins, has argued the allegation impinges on Mr Davis's implied constitutional rights to political expression.
Mr Davis, speaking outside court after a hearing in May, said he would go 'all the way' to the High Court to fight the charge. The next hearing is set down for September 23.
South Australian police arrested and charged 16 people with loitering and displaying Nazi symbols after the Australia Day rally, although charges against some of the men, including NSN leader Thomas Sewell, have since been withdrawn.
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