Latest news with #neoNazi
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Neo Nazi Joel Davis fronts Adelaide court, flags ‘constitutional' fight
A notorious Australian neo-Nazi who has openly praised Adolf Hitler has indicated he will fight a charge of using a Nazi symbol on constitutional grounds. Joel Davis, a leader in the fascist National Socialist Network, appeared for a pre-trial conference at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He is confronting the allegation that he displayed a Nazi symbol on a belt buckle following an Australia Day protest in the Adelaide CBD this year. His defence lawyer, Matthew Hopkins, appeared via telephone and told the court that he would serve a notice on the Solicitor-General to argue the charge may have breached his client's constitutional rights. 'Mr Hopkins has just advised he has filed with the court a notice pursuant to the Judicature Act with the intention of obtaining a sealed copy, which he will then serve upon the Solicitor-General, as he wishes to argue a constitutional point in relation to the matter,' chief magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal said. Mr Hopkins filed the notice on Tuesday morning. South Australian police arrested and charged 16 people with loitering and displaying Nazi symbols after some 40 men dressed in black stormed the CBD on January 26, chanting 'white man fight back' and singing 'Waltzing Matilda'. Charges against some of the men, including NSN leader Thomas Sewell, have since been withdrawn. A charge against Mr Davis from that day was also withdrawn in May. The neo-Nazis have since claimed they are the victims of political persecution. After a court hearing in April, Mr Hopkins said the alleged offences had impinged on Mr Sewell and Mr Davis's implied constitutional rights to political expression. 'They do intend to form a political party and it would be a radical departure in Australian constitutional jurisprudence for an ideology to be outlawed,' he said at the time. 'And that's really where we are going with this.' Mr Hopkins said the NSN had been 'targeted' by the police and suggested the NSN march was a form of political expression comparable to Survival Day rallies. 'There were numerous demonstrations happening in Adelaide,' he said. 'And it seems to be the case where it is this particular organisation that has been targeted as a special group. 'They were carrying the Australian flag, they were at no stage anywhere near those protests. 'One of them was called anti-Australia Day, one was called Invasion Day. 'You have polarising ideologies here that are in conflict and as part of our constitutional representative government we allow for that, and that is part of the reason why the right to political communication is there, so that there is an outlet for legitimate displays of an ideology.' Mr Davis, speaking outside court in May, also said he would go 'all the way' to the High Court to fight the charge. Ms Hribal said a representative from the Solicitor-General would likely attend Mr Davis's next appearance and indicate their response to the notice. She listed September 23 for the next hearing. Mr Davis is an avowed fascist and has expressed admiration for Hitler. Hitler led the Nazi war machine in the 1930s and 1940s and orchestrated the extermination of some six millions Jews across Europe. At an earlier court appearance, police alleged the NSN was preparing for a 'race war' and hoped to usher in a white supremacist ethnostate. The court was told the men said they wore black outfits to 'represent the ideal of national socialism' and eliminate their individual identities. South Australia's parliament outlawed the display of Nazi symbols or salutes following a sharp and sudden increase in anti-Semitic expression across the country after the terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The law came into effect in December 2024.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Great wake-up call for conservatives': Yair Netanyahu slams Joe Rogan over ‘antisemitic propaganda'; claims podcaster refuses to host Israeli PM
's eldest son recently accused popular American podcaster and known Republican of declining to host the Israeli prime minister and spreading antisemitic content over the years. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Yair Netanyahu, aged 33, criticised the renowned podcaster following Rogan's favourable comments about , suggesting Biden's potential as a presidential candidate. "Great wake up call for conservatives to remember Joe Rogan is not a conservative," Netanyahu's son posted on X, quoting a Fox News report on Rogan talking about Hunter Biden. "He gave platform to every single neo Nazi antisemite on this plant (sic), but he refuse to have my father on his show, because he knows that he doesn't stand a chance against him, and all those years of antisemitic propaganda will go to waste," he further added. During Last week's "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, Rogan discussed Biden's unconventional interview with "Channel 5" presenter Andrew Callaghan, where Biden addressed his illicit substance use. "He's smarter than his dad when his dad was young," Rogan said of Hunter adding, "And he could be president. How about that?" Yair Netanyahu, previously a podcaster, promptly criticised Rogan's remarks, suggesting they revealed his non-conservative stance and accused him of promoting antisemitic views. Rogan has encountered several controversies regarding this subject throughout his career. Recently, Rogan received criticism for featuring Darryl Cooper, who has been accused of minimising Nazi atrocities and revising Holocaust history. Rogan dismissed his critics, labelling them as "paranoid" Jews. Yair Netanyahu, recognised for defending his father online, has faced his own controversies. In 2018, his Facebook account received a 24-hour suspension following anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian publications. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Do you know where there are no attacks, in Iceland and Japan. That's because there are no Muslims," he wrote in one post, as quoted by NY Post. In another, he wrote: "There will never be peace with the monsters in human form known since 1964 as 'Palestinians.'" That same year, the prime minister's son, then 26, was recorded outside a Tel Aviv strip club, intoxicated, bragging about his father and making inappropriate comments about women, according to NY Post's reports.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Netanyahu's son claims Joe Rogan refused to have father on his show: ‘Years of antisemitic propaganda'
Benjamin Netanyahu's eldest son on Friday claimed Joe Rogan refused to host the Israeli prime minister on his show and has promoted 'years of antisemitic propaganda.' Yair Netanyahu, 33, took aim at the popular podcaster after Rogan gushed over scandal-ridden Hunter Biden, arguing he could be president. 'Great wake up call for conservatives to remember Joe Rogan is not a conservative,' Netanyahu's son wrote in a post on X. Advertisement 4 Joe Rogan hosting his podcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience.' PowerfulJRE/Youtube 'He gave platform to every single neo Nazi antisemite on this plant (sic), but he refuse to have my father on his show, because he knows that he doesn't stand a chance against him, and all those years of antisemitic propaganda will go to waste.' Representatives for Rogan did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment. Advertisement On Wednesday's episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience' podcast, Rogan had played a clip from Biden's bizarre interview with 'Channel 5' host Andrew Callaghan, when the former president's son discussed his illegal drug use. 'He's smarter than his dad when his dad was young,' Rogan said of Hunter. 'And he could be president. How about that?' 4 Yair Netanyahu slammed Joe Rogan in a social media post Friday. @YairNetanyahu/X Advertisement Yair Netanyahu, a onetime podcaster himself, was quick to call out Rogan's comments as proof that he isn't a true conservative and accused the host of platforming antisemitism. Rogan has found himself in hot water on the subject several times over the years. Most recently, Rogan faced backlash after he hosted Darryl Cooper on his podcast earlier this year. 4 Yair Netanyahu and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AP Advertisement The self-styled historian has been accused of Holocaust revisionism and downplaying Nazi crimes. Rogan brushed off his critics as 'paranoid' Jews. In 2023, Rogan made a jab on his podcast about Jews being 'into money.' 'The idea that Jewish people are not into money, that's ridiculous. That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza. It's f—ing stupid,' he said. 4 President Trump and Yair Netanyahu. @YairNetanyahu/X Yair Netanyahu, who is known for coming to his father's defense online, has his own fair share of controversies. His Facebook account was slapped with a 24-hour ban in 2018 following a series of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian posts. 'Do you know where there are no attacks, in Iceland and Japan. That's because there are no Muslims,' he wrote in one post. Advertisement In another, he wrote: 'There will never be peace with the monsters in human form known since 1964 as 'Palestinians.'' Earlier that same year, the prime minster's son, then 26, was caught on video outside a Tel Aviv strip club drunkenly boasting about his father and making risqué comments about women.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
From Canada to Finland, a US neo-Nazi fight club is rapidly spreading across the globe
More than a dozen men wearing black masks and sunglasses – obstructing any open source investigators from easily identifying them – appeared in a Telegram video in front of city hall in London, Canada, in June. 'Mass deportations now,' the men yelled in unison, holding up banners with the same slogan. 'No blood for Israel.' While this type of scene with masked men chanting is a relatively common occurrence in the US, this incident in Canada illustrated the underbelly of a surging global movement: neo-Nazi 'active clubs', American-born neofascist fight clubs, are rapidly spreading across borders. London, a larger Canadian city in what is a rust belt in the province of Ontario, has had a long history with the Ku Klux Klan dating back to the 1920s and a racist murder of a Pakistani-Canadian family in 2021. But the arrival of an active club, which has also shown itself in other nearby towns and cities like Toronto (the country's largest metropolitan area), is a relatively new development. 'Welcome to Hamilton, our city,' one Telegram post from the same Canadian active club wrote with its symbol posted on a sticker beside a sign for one of Ontario's largest cities. 'Folk-Family-Future!' Around the world, Canada isn't the only country being introduced to these clubs, which are fitness and mixed martial arts groups operating out of local gyms and parks that espouse neo-Nazi and fascist ideologies. Already proliferating across the US in a number of states, active clubs openly take their historical cues from the Third Reich's obsession with machismo and their modern inspiration from European soccer hooliganism. Recent research published by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has shown that since 2023, these clubs are newly sprouting in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the UK, Finland and for the first time, in Latin America with two chapters in Chile and Colombia appearing. According to the GPAHE research, there are now chapters in 27 countries, with new youth wings – akin to Hitler Youth-styled clubs – are surging stateside and abroad, 'metastasizing' across western countries and recruiting young men into toxic, far-right ideologies encouraging race war. 'The Active Club model was designed by Rob Rundo,' said Heidi Beirich, founder of GPAHE, referring to an infamous neo-Nazi and New Yorker who pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to riot at 2017 political rallies in California. Around that time, Rundo was also the leader of the Rise Above Movement, a neo-Nazi gang that had four of its members charged for their role in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but later pivoted to spreading the idea of active clubs among followers as the new nerve centers for fascistic indoctrination and recruitment. 'As far as we can tell, Rundo isn't directly involved with chapters of the movement in a systematic way, but the chapters are inspired by him and the ideology he stands for,' said Beirich. Beirich explained that although Rundo isn't likely to have a hand in these groups, it meshes with his original vision of active clubs being 'autonomous and local'. But many of these chapters of active clubs in countries with large populations of white people – some of whom openly have gravitated towards racist, nativism in recent years – promote each other as a global struggle and are linked in a network of accounts on the Telegram app. One set of accounts, in particular, that have become the sort-of tastemakers among neo-Nazis online, have promoted several local active club chapters across the world and applauded those they think are creating the effective models to emulate. The same accounts admire the work of Thomas Sewell, a well-known and violent Australian neo-Nazi, who has been promoting active club-styled groups in his country: 'Their organization should be what every dissident group across European civilization seeks to emulate,' said one admiring post about Sewell and his crew. Beirich said Sewell, who previously admitted to have personally tried to recruit the Christchurch mass shooter to one of his past groups, is aligned with Rundo's politics. 'Sewell, just like Rundo, is a violent neo-Nazi recruiting new members to prepare for violence against both political enemies and the communities he targets, such as immigrants, Jews and the LGBTQ+ community,' she said, adding that he was 'hosting MMA-style training and tournaments' to attract new followers. The Ultimate Fighting Championship and the combat sports that fall under its purview, have become a locus for the far right. Likewise, Sewell and Rundo have promoted learning these sports as a means of becoming street soldiers, akin to modern-day brownshirts, for their movement. Other organizations, which are more obviously political and engaging in public displays of activism, have seen this model of trained violence as a means of recruiting and solidifying their ranks. Patriot Front, an American proto-fascist hate group known for public marches and propagandizing natural disasters, has outwardly linked itself to the active club movement. Its leader, Thomas Rousseau recently posted a group image with himself and others doing 'grappling and striking' training at a martial arts gym in north Texas. Beirich described how members of Patriot Front 'often work closely with Active Club chapters' including participating in their mixed-martials training. On Telegram, active club chapters regularly share Patriot Front propaganda. 'Join Patriot Front if you are in America,' one active club adjacent account posted on Telegram, with nearly three thousand views.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
From Canada to Finland, a US neo-Nazi fight club is rapidly spreading across the globe
More than a dozen men wearing black masks and sunglasses – obstructing any open source investigators from easily identifying them – appeared in a Telegram video in front of city hall in London, Canada, in June. 'Mass deportations now,' the men yelled in unison, holding up banners with the same slogan. 'No blood for Israel.' While this type of scene with masked men chanting is a relatively common occurrence in the US, this incident in Canada illustrated the underbelly of a surging global movement: neo-Nazi active clubs, American-born neofascist fight clubs, are rapidly spreading across borders. London, a larger Canadian city in what is a rust belt in the province of Ontario, has had a long history with the Ku Klux Klan dating back to the 1920s and a racist murder of a Pakistani-Canadian family in 2021. But the arrival of an active club, which has also shown itself in other nearby towns and cities like Toronto (the country's largest metropolitan area), is a relatively new development. 'Welcome to Hamilton, our city,' one Telegram post from the same Canadian active club wrote with its symbol posted on a sticker beside a sign for one of Ontario's largest cities. 'Folk-Family-Future!' Around the world, Canada isn't the only country being introduced to these clubs, which are fitness and mixed martial arts groups operating out of local gyms and parks that espouse neo-Nazi and fascist ideologies. Already proliferating across the US in a number of states, active clubs openly take their historical cues from the Third Reich's obsession with machismo and their modern inspiration from European soccer hooliganism. Recent research published by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has shown that since 2023, these clubs are newly sprouting in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the UK, Finland and for the first time, in Latin America with two chapters in Chile and Colombia appearing. According to the GPAHE research, there are now chapters in 27 countries, with new youth wings – akin to Hitler Youth-styled clubs – are surging stateside and abroad, 'metastasizing' across western countries and recruiting young men into toxic, far-right ideologies encouraging race war. 'The Active Club model was designed by Rob Rundo,' said Heidi Beirich, founder of GPAHE, referring to an infamous neo-Nazi and New Yorker who pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to riot at 2017 political rallies in California. Around that time, Rundo was also the leader of the Rise Above Movement, a neo-Nazi gang that had four of its members charged for their role in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but later pivoted to spreading the idea of active clubs among followers as the new nerve centers for fascistic indoctrination and recruitment. 'As far as we can tell, Rundo isn't directly involved with chapters of the movement in a systematic way, but the chapters are inspired by him and the ideology he stands for,' said Beirich. Beirich explained that although Rundo isn't likely to have a hand in these groups, it meshes with his original vision of active clubs being 'autonomous and local'. But many of these chapters of active clubs in countries with large populations of white people – some of whom openly have gravitated towards racist, nativism in recent years – promote each other as a global struggle and are linked in a network of accounts on the Telegram app. One set of accounts, in particular, that have become the sort-of tastemakers among neo-Nazis online, have promoted several local active club chapters across the world and applauded those they think are creating the effective models to emulate. The same accounts admire the work of Thomas Sewell, a well-known and violent Australian neo-Nazi, who has been promoting active club-styled groups in his country: 'Their organization should be what every dissident group across European civilization seeks to emulate,' said one admiring post about Sewell and his crew. Beirich said Sewell, who previously admitted to have personally tried to recruit the Christchurch mass shooter to one of his past groups, is aligned with Rundo's politics. 'Sewell, just like Rundo, is a violent neo-Nazi recruiting new members to prepare for violence against both political enemies and the communities he targets, such as immigrants, Jews and the LGBTQ+ community,' she said, adding that he was 'hosting MMA-style training and tournaments' to attract new followers. The Ultimate Fighting Championship and the combat sports that fall under its purview, have become a locus for the far right. Likewise, Sewell and Rundo have promoted learning these sports as a means of becoming street soldiers, akin to modern-day brownshirts, for their movement. Other organizations, which are more obviously political and engaging in public displays of activism, have seen this model of trained violence as a means of recruiting and solidifying their ranks. Patriot Front, an American proto-fascist hate group known for public marches and propagandizing natural disasters, has outwardly linked itself to the active club movement. Its leader, Thomas Rousseau recently posted a group image with himself and others doing 'grappling and striking' training at a martial arts gym in north Texas. Beirich described how members of Patriot Front 'often work closely with Active Club chapters' including participating in their mixed-martials training. On Telegram, active club chapters regularly share Patriot Front propaganda. 'Join Patriot Front if you are in America,' one active club adjacent account posted on Telegram, with nearly three thousand views.
