Latest news with #ThomasSewell
7NEWS
29-05-2025
- 7NEWS
New police twist as neo-Nazi leader has symbol charge dropped in court
National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell has had a criminal charge dropped over his neo-Nazi group's Australia Day weekend protest. Melbourne resident Sewell, 31, was among 17 NSN members arrested after marching in Adelaide in January. On Thursday, a charge of using a Nazi symbol was withdrawn in his criminal case in the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Sewell remains charged with one count of loitering. Since the Australia day arrest, Sewell has since claimed that police wanted to kill members of his neo-Nazi group. He has published audio online that allegedly captures SAPOL officers on Australia Day joking about shooting the neo-Nazi group. 'I'm happy to shoot them,' one person said. 'Happy to?' another person asked. 'I'm happy to shoot them' the first person answered. Sewell is scheduled to return to court next week.
ABC News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell has one of his charges dropped in Adelaide court
A charge of using a Nazi symbol has been dropped against National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell. Mr Sewell, 31, was among 17 members of a group that was arrested after marching in Adelaide over the Australia Day long weekend. He appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, where a charge of using a Nazi symbol was withdrawn. He remains charged with one count of loitering. Mr Sewell previously told the court the arrests were "outright political persecution", and said that a non-contact clause imposed on his bail agreement was "disproportionate". Despite being granted permission to appear in court via phone, he attended in person and outside court said he intended to keep fighting "all the way to the High Court". He is scheduled to return to court next week for a pre-trial conference on the loitering charge. Another member of the group, Joel Thomas Davis, also appeared in person in the Adelaide Magistrates Court. A charge of using a Nazi symbol on Australia Day was withdrawn, while a second count of using a Nazi symbol, which is alleged to have occurred two days later, on January 28, remains. Outside court, he said he felt "vindicated" one of the charges had been withdrawn. He is next scheduled to return to court in July for a pre-trial conference. Earlier this month, Stephen Wells, who was among the group of men arrested during the Australia Day demonstration, had a charge of using a Nazi symbol dropped. The 55-year-old from Broadwater in Western Australia is no longer accused of any offending in relation to the demonstration, after a charge of loitering was withdrawn at an earlier hearing in March. Another of the men, Ethan Hendren, was convicted in his absence and discharged without further penalty for three charges, including using a Nazi symbol. He was ordered to pay a $1,080 victims of crime levy.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Thomas Sewell given contested hearing over alleged role in Ballarat white supremacist rally
A Melbourne man who allegedly fronted a white supremacist rally in Ballarat will go to a three-day contested hearing after claiming the act could not be deemed criminal. Thomas Sewell on Tuesday faced Ballarat Magistrates Court in person for the first time, despite it being the third time his matter has been heard in court. The Melbourne man was charged with behaving in an offensive manner in a public area after allegedly leading the rally on December 3, 2023. The 32-year-old has been representing himself, and in court on Tuesday accused Victoria Police of malicious prosecution, arguing the rally was political but not criminally offensive. The court heard that during the rally, Mr Sewell — along with 25 masked supporters — was allegedly chanting, "white man, National Socialist Network", "non-whites should be deported" and "white man, fight back". Mr Sewell has argued his matter is constitutional, that he has a right to political expression, and the rallies and chanting were not criminally offensive. "I disagree with the prime minister, that doesn't make him a criminal," Mr Sewell said. "This is not offensive behaviour." A small group of masked Neo-Nazis paraded through Ballarat in 2023. ( Supplied ) Contested hearing Magistrate Letizia Torres accepted that Mr Sewell had raised his constitutional concerns to all of Australia's Attorneys-General. There has been no direction as to whether the matter will be taken away from the state and instead go to the High Court. In the meantime, a date has been set for a three-day contested hearing in October. The court heard eight witnesses will present evidence in the hearing. The witnesses include two members of the public and Victoria Police members. Hours of body-worn camera footage will also be presented to the court during the hearing. The court also heard members of the public were "distressed and outraged" and yelled at the rally to stop, and that triple-0 calls were made regarding the march. Mr Sewell will return to court for a mention in September. ABC Ballarat — local news in your inbox Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Wednesday Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
The Age
27-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Neo-Nazis quietly forming a political party to try to get around the law
The prominent neo-Nazi group that disrupted Anzac Day commemorations is recruiting members to form a new political party, as part of a plan to exploit loopholes in recent anti-vilification laws – and run candidates in the next federal election. White supremacist leader Thomas Sewell is under strict bail conditions barring him from contacting other members of his neo-Nazi National Socialist Network, which has seen its websites and social media channels taken down after Sewell and other members were arrested over an Australia Day rally in Adelaide. Yet The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald can reveal the group has quietly launched a new website, signed by founder Sewell, and is directing people through its remaining Telegram channels to join the NSN's new aspiring political party. The group needs to reach 1500 verified members before it can apply to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to form an official federal party, which it hopes to do within a year. (The bar for becoming a state party is even lower, at 500 members needed in Victoria.) The stunt at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance on Friday, when neo-Nazis including Jacob Hersant booed in the darkness of an Anzac dawn service, was part of a co-ordinated push to rebrand nationally as 'everyday Australians' fed up with so-called 'woke' politics and so funnel more recruits into their extreme ideologies. That plan, which is revealed in online records and Sewell's videos for followers, could now be in jeopardy, as bipartisan backlash to the shrine stunt and other disruptions by fringe agitators this election campaign threatens to build into a national crackdown on far-right extremism. But neo-Nazi watchers who track the group online, such as The White Rose Society, call their political ambitions serious and frightening. Even if they don't ever get a candidate up at the ballot box, the tactic could help the neo-Nazi group gain false legitimacy as they push further into right-wing politics – and evade crackdowns by authorities. Extremism expert Josh Roose said Australian neo-Nazis had been successful, for their relatively small numbers, in eclipsing other groups in the far right, including in recent stunts during the election. 'Now they're following in the footsteps of Hitler [into politics], though they have zero chance of actually getting elected, but they'll exploit every loophole they can.'
Sydney Morning Herald
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nazis are quietly forming a political party to try to get around the law
The prominent neo-Nazi group that disrupted Anzac Day commemorations is recruiting members to form a new political party, as part of a plan to exploit loopholes in recent anti-vilification laws – and run candidates in the next federal election. White supremacist leader Thomas Sewell is under strict bail conditions barring him from contacting other members of his neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN), which has seen its websites and social media channels taken down after Sewell and other members were arrested over an Australia Day rally in Adelaide. Yet The Age can reveal the group has quietly launched a new website, signed by founder Sewell, and is directing people through its remaining Telegram channels to join the NSN's new aspiring political party. The group needs to reach 1500 verified members before it can apply to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to form an official federal party, which it hopes to do within a year. (The bar for becoming a state party is even lower, at 500 members needed in Victoria.) The stunt at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance on Friday, when neo-Nazis including Jacob Hersant booed in the darkness of an Anzac dawn service, was part of a co-ordinated push to rebrand nationally as 'everyday Australians' fed up with so-called 'woke' politics and so funnel more recruits into their extreme ideologies. That plan, which is revealed in online records and Sewell's videos for followers, could now be in jeopardy, as bipartisan backlash to the Shrine stunt and other disruptions by fringe agitators this election campaign threatens to build into a national crackdown on far-right extremism. But Nazi watchers who track the group online, such as The White Rose Society, call their political ambitions serious and frightening. Even if they don't ever get a candidate up at the ballot box, the tactic could help the neo-Nazi group gain false legitimacy as they push further into right-wing politics – and evade crackdowns by authorities. Extremism expert Josh Roose said Australian neo-Nazis had been successful, for their relatively small numbers, in eclipsing other groups in the far right, including in recent stunts during the election. 'Now they're following in the footsteps of Hitler [into politics], though they have zero chance of actually getting elected, but they'll exploit every loophole they can.'
