Neo-Nazis clashed with police and anti-racism protesters outside Victoria’s state parliament on Saturday as hordes of masked far-right protesters marched against immigration.
The far-right group were seen performing the Seig Heil, a salute used by Nazis at rallies, which the Victorian Government has pledged to ban.
Members of Melbourne’s National Socialist Network planned the event from midday on Saturday, but counter-protestors began arriving on Melbourne’s Spring St from 10am, sparking clashes.
Counter-protesters were seen shouting ‘wife basher’ at Avi Yemini, a far-right YouTuber who has been convicted of assaulting his former partner.
Photos and videos showing masked men pushing police have been posted to social media. Photos show cops appearing to spray liquid at crowds to disperse them.
Neo nazis were seen performing the Seig Heil, which the Victorian Government has pledged to ban on Saturday
The far right group carried Australian flags to protest immigration
Cops tackled protesters in the fierce showing in Melbourne
One protester looked wet after being sprayed
Neo-Nazis clashed with police and anti-racism protesters outside Victoria’s state parliament on Saturday as hordes of masked far-right protesters marched against immigration
Members of Melbourne’s National Socialist Network planned the event from midday on Saturday, but counter-protestors began arriving on Melbourne’s Spring St from 10am, sparking clashes. A counter protester is pictured
Photos show cops appearing to spray liquid at crowds to disperse them
‘We are organising (the protest) in opposition to the system’s importation of 715,000 immigrants over the next two years, further exacerbating the housing crisis and ethnic replacement of white Australians in their own suburbs and towns,’ the National Socialist Network’s Thomas Sewell said in a video posted on social channels.
‘This will be a peaceful and legal demonstration open to all supporters and bystanders who wish to have their voice heard.
‘Living space for whites! Stop Immigration!’
In response, Victoria Police declared the CBD a ‘designated area’ from 7am to 7pm, granting police stop and search powers.
Victoria Police declared the CBD a ‘designated area’ from 7am to 7pm, granting police stop and search powers. One protester is shown pinned to the ground
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Counter-protesters from the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) group rallied against the Nazis
‘Police officers and protective services officers are empowered to search a person and any thing in the possession or control of the person, or a vehicle for weapons,’ Victoria Police said in a statement.
Counter-protesters from the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) group rallied against the far-right group.
‘The relationship between mainstream racism and the far right couldn’t be clearer,’ CARF organisers said online.
‘Their capitalist masters say jump, and the fascists ask ‘how high’.
‘It is time for anti-fascists to spring into action. Let’s show up in numbers to prove that Melbourne is an anti-fascist town.’
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia’s leading civil rights organisation, told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Neo-Nazism is alive in Melbourne as white supremacists have declared open season on immigrants, trying to insert themselves into the conversation by holding this rally and stoking fear on this issue.
‘These agents of evil who dream of an Australian Hitler see immigration as a ‘fear issue through which they believe they can mainstream and normalise their abhorrent beliefs and attract recruits to their warped cause.
‘Such hate-filled rhetoric can have deadly consequences and can act as justification for individuals committing heinous acts of violence.’
Huge crowds gathered in the square to protest immigration – with counter protesters also there
Neo-Nazis held up a sign reading ‘living space for white nation’ at the rally today
The campaigner, who spearheaded the five-year national campaign that resulted in Victoria first and then a number of states instituting the ban, and last January launched another campaign to criminalise the Nazi salute, added: ‘Migrants and anyone who these Hitler worshippers deem ‘unworthy’ will now be the target of choice for hateful and racist demonisation.
‘What is driving this demonstration is ‘The Great Replacement Theory’, the belief that the white race itself is threatened with extinction by a ‘rising tide of non-white immigrants’ controlled by a cabal of Jews.
‘This atmosphere of vilification and dehumanisation can lead to murder, as we saw in lone wolf shootings around the world— Brenton Tarrant actually used the slogan ‘The Great Replacement’ in his manifesto before massacring 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch. I call on every political leader to unequivocally condemn this dangerous rhetoric and for the state government to outlaw the promotion and glorification of Nazism.’
It comes after about 30 neo-Nazis attended a controversial event by UK anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen in March, performing the salute on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House.
It comes after about 30 neo-Nazis attended a controversial event by UK anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen in March, performing the salute on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House
