Latest news with #NeoNazis
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Liberal MP Moira Deeming says she may pursue John Pesutto's financial backers for court costs
Liberal MP Moira Deeming says she will pursue senior Victorian Liberal figures to help recover $2.3 million in legal costs if John Pesutto cannot pay. Ms Deeming successfully sued the former Victorian Liberal leader for defamation after he moved to expel her from the party room in 2023 after she attended an anti-trans-rights rally that was gatecrashed by Neo-Nazis. Earlier this month, Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs to Ms Deeming. It's understood he's unable to pay the costs order or his own legal bills, and has been seeking loans from Liberal powerbrokers to fend off bankruptcy. The Australian newspaper on Wednesday reported Ms Deeming's legal team had written to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information about some of his high-profile donors. Ms Deeming told the ABC the letter was sent to understand who had financially backed Mr Pesutto during their defamation battle, because she "may have to seek cost recovery through them". Former premiers Jeff Kennett and Ted Baillieu are among the Liberal faithful who have chipped in to help save Mr Pesutto's political career. Both declined to comment to the ABC. In a statement this morning, Ms Deeming said she had not yet launched any lawsuits against anyone other than Mr Pesutto. "The letter simply seeks to understand who aided him [to run the case]," she said. "Being a lawyer, John knew better than anyone, the legal and financial risks in refusing to apologise and retract his defamatory claims against me. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year." The legal stoush was prompted by Ms Deeming's attendance at a Let Women Speak rally at state parliament in March 2023. The event, categorised by supporters as a women's rights event, featured UK anti-trans-rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen. Ms Deeming was also involved in organising the rally. Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the idea of potential further legal action by Ms Deeming on three former Liberal premiers was a "distraction". "I would love to see this whole matter resolved," he told ABC Radio Melbourne on Wednesday. Mr Battin would not be drawn on questions about what he could do to resolve the saga. "I'll continue to have discussions internally with my colleagues, with the party and whoever else I'm required to, but at the end of the day … those conversations will remain confidential," he said. "It is frustrating because it's not a topic that I think most Victorians at home want us talking about." Senior Liberals have told the ABC they are furious with Mr Battin over his handling of the situation. Some say his lack of action to try and broker a deal to avoid a by-election was damaging the party and his leadership. If Mr Pesutto declared bankruptcy he would be forced from parliament, and there is no guarantee the Liberals would retain his Hawthorn seat in a by-election. Earlier this year, Mr Battin appointed Ms Deeming as his special representative in the western suburbs, infuriating colleagues. Mr Pesutto declined to comment.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Head of international neo-Nazi group that inspired Antioch school shooter extradited to US
The teen who fatally shot a fellow student and himself at Antioch High School this year was inspired by an international neo-Nazi group whose leader orchestrated deadly attacks around the globe, according to federal prosecutors. The terrorist group's leader, 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, of the nation of Georgia, was extradited from Moldova on May 22 after he was arrested in July. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn on May 23, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ says the man was the leader of a group called MKY. Chkhikvishvili targeted the U.S. as a site for more attacks because of the ease of accessing firearms. He told an undercover law enforcement employee, 'I see USA as big potential because accessibility to firearms and other resources,' in an electronic message sent Sept. 8, 2023, court filings show. Chkhikvishvili has been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on four counts including solicitation of violent felonies. The charges stemmed from Chkhikvishvili's communications with an undercover law enforcement employee in which he trained and encouraged the undercover agent to carry out a mass attack against Jewish people and minorities. The man's arrest came before the deadly attack at Antioch High School on Jan. 22, 2025. However, prosecutors in the New York federal court linked the Antioch shooting to Chkhikvishvili's solicitations of violence in a court filing on May 23. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York wrote to the judge requesting the man be incarcerated before trial. They pointed to several ways his actions have 'directly resulted in real violence,' including the shooting at Antioch High School. According to the prosecutors, the 17-year-old attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of MKY and at least one other group in an audio recording posted online before the shooting. It is not clear if the shooter was a member of MKY or had contact with Chkhikvishvili or other members of the terrorist organization. Chkhikvishvili said the group asks for video of brutal beatings, arson, explosions or murders to join the group, adding that the victims should be 'low race targets.' Chkhikvishvili's name also appeared in the document the DOJ characterizes as the Antioch shooter's manifesto — a 300-page document in which the shooter espoused misanthropic White supremacist and Nazi ideologies. The shooter also referred to the founder of MKY and said he would write the founder's name on his gun, according to prosecutors. Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, died after the 17-year-old shot her with a pistol in the cafeteria of Antioch High School. Another student was injured during the attack. The shooter then shot and killed himself. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Neo Nazis inspired Antioch shooter. Now US has extradited their leader
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Head of international neo-Nazi group that inspired Antioch school shooter extradited to US
The teen who fatally shot a fellow student and himself at Antioch High School this year was inspired by an international neo-Nazi group whose leader orchestrated deadly attacks around the globe, according to federal prosecutors. The terrorist group's leader, 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, of the nation of Georgia, was extradited from Moldova on May 22 after he was arrested in July. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn on May 23, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ says the man was the leader of a group called MKY. Chkhikvishvili targeted the U.S. as a site for more attacks because of the ease of accessing firearms. He told an undercover law enforcement employee, 'I see USA as big potential because accessibility to firearms and other resources,' in an electronic message sent Sept. 8, 2023, court filings show. Chkhikvishvili has been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on four counts including solicitation of violent felonies. The charges stemmed from Chkhikvishvili's communications with an undercover law enforcement employee in which he trained and encouraged the undercover agent to carry out a mass attack against Jewish people and minorities. The man's arrest came before the deadly attack at Antioch High School on Jan. 22, 2025. However, prosecutors in the New York federal court linked the Antioch shooting to Chkhikvishvili's solicitations of violence in a court filing on May 23. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York wrote to the judge requesting the man be incarcerated before trial. They pointed to several ways his actions have 'directly resulted in real violence,' including the shooting at Antioch High School. According to the prosecutors, the 17-year-old attacker claimed he was taking action on behalf of MKY and at least one other group in an audio recording posted online before the shooting. It is not clear if the shooter was a member of MKY or had contact with Chkhikvishvili or other members of the terrorist organization. Chkhikvishvili said the group asks for video of brutal beatings, arson, explosions or murders to join the group, adding that the victims should be 'low race targets.' Chkhikvishvili's name also appeared in the document the DOJ characterizes as the Antioch shooter's manifesto — a 300-page document in which the shooter espoused misanthropic White supremacist and Nazi ideologies. The shooter also referred to the founder of MKY and said he would write the founder's name on his gun, according to prosecutors. Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, died after the 17-year-old shot her with a pistol in the cafeteria of Antioch High School. Another student was injured during the attack. The shooter then shot and killed himself. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Neo Nazis inspired Antioch shooter. Now US has extradited their leader
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why do far-right demonstrators gravitate to Howell?
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A of protests in Howell has brought a lot of negative attention to the city over the past year, including a where a group of masked individuals waved Nazi flags outside a theater showing of a documentary about white supremacy in Mid-Michigan. But, why has Howell become a target of protests like these? Buddy Moorehouse is a local historian who spent decades tracking white supremacist groups as a reporter with the Livingston Daily. He says the whole movement can be tracked down to one man. 'We never had a Klan here, we had one Klansman who died 33 years ago,' says Moorehouse. 'And his ghost is still haunting us today because people think of how, in that way, all because of Bob Miles, it all goes back to him.' Robert E. Miles moved to mid-Michigan in the 1950s for work—and brought his racist ideology with him. For decades, he hosted far-right leaders from across the country at his Livingston County farm, and he loved the media attention that came with it. 'He was a beloved figure in that movement in the Klan movement. And that included skinheads and Neo Nazis and all the other, you know, far-right people,' says Moorehouse. 'And again, what made him so dangerous is that he was so willing to be out there, and he never shied from publicity.' Moorehouse says these groups continued to give Howell a bad reputation in the press even after Miles died, and after a rally in the 90s, they learned they could capitalize on that. 'They also rallied in Ann Arbor and they rallied in Lansing, but it was the one in Howell that got all the attention,' says Moorehouse. 'I do firmly 1,000,000 percent believe that the reason they come here is that they know they'll get attention.' After decades of tracking this issue, Moorehouse says most people in Howell don't share the same beliefs. He says the best thing to do is ignore people who come to town looking for a fight. 'It is a warm, wonderful, welcoming community we have great stores and great people who live here,' says Moorehouse.'I think that the best thing that we could do next time people show up here looking for attention is to ignore them. I wish we had done that when it happened last week that everyone had just ignored them.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
