Neo-Nazis unhappy about police ‘harassment’

Prominent Australian neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has vented frustration after he was accused of intimidating a police officer online.

Mr Sewell, 31, was arrested amid sweeping raids in Melbourne on Thursday in what Victoria Police labelled a “day of action” against the National Socialist Network (NSN).

The NSN figurehead, who has also played a leading role in the European Australian Movement (EAM), was charged with two counts of intimidate a police officer/family member relating to two alleged incidents late last month, a police spokeswoman said.

One of the charges related to alleged online commentary by Sewell following an incident on October 22 when about 20 black-clad men counterprotested a rally organised by pro-refugee groups outside the Department of Home Affairs office in Docklands.

The rally marked 100 days of continuous protest calling for Tamil asylum seekers to be granted permanent visas.

Speaking to media outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, Sewell strenuously denied he had attempted to intimidate a police officer, labelling it an “absolute lie”.

“That won’t even go to court, they’ll throw that out,” he said.

“That’s a justification to harass us, intimidate us and point guns at our families.”

Mr Sewell said a police officer had allegedly assaulted one of the NSN members at the rally by pulling down his face covering “to try and reveal his identity to the public”.

“The police are so sensitive and upset about that they have charged me with intimidating a police officer because I said: ‘why don’t we reveal this police officer’s identity that assaulted one of our members’,” he said.

“We have no recourse when a police officer assaults us … I’ve even been robbed at gunpoint by police.

“The police are so afraid they’ve put an intervention order on me; I’m not allowed to say this person’s name on the internet.”

Mr Sewell said his movement was being targeted because “we’re growing at an exponential rate” but complained that members were ostracised and lost jobs when their identities were made public.

When pressed on how many members the NSN had, Sewell responded; “we have a lot of support across Australia” and “you’ll see”.

Members of the NSN have held several high-profile rallies in recent months, including a protest across the NSW border in Corowa and outside the Chinese consulate in Melbourne.

According to Victoria Police, Mr Sewell was interviewed in relation to the alleged burning of a national flag outside an embassy in Toorak on October 26 and released pending further inquiries.

Mr Sewell said the protest was directed at the Chinese consulate after a nine-month-old boy was scalded with coffee at a Brisbane park in August.

He claimed the Chinese consulate had “instructed” Victoria Police to charge members of the NSN with racial vilification but that had yet to occur.

“Whether that happens or not, it could be a bluff, I believe it was merely an attempt to intimidate us at our homes because they don’t like our views,” he said.

Sewell was present at the Melbourne Magistrates Court to support self-described Nazi Jacob Hersant, 25, as he was released on bail to appeal a conviction for performing a banned Nazi gesture.

Hersant, himself, revealed he was one of three men also arrested on Thursday.

The Victoria Police spokeswoman said three men, aged 25, 23 and 21, were interviewed in relation to an alleged racial vilification and grossly offensive public conduct.

No charges were laid.

She said the arrests came following an investigation into an alleged incident on Halloween where men, dressed in offensive clothing, verbally harassed two women in a retail store carpark in Port Melbourne.

Mr Hersant dismissed the allegations, saying grossly offensive behaviour was “just a subjective charge”.

“It’s ridiculous — a maximum of five years in jail for something that’s totally subjective,” he said.

“The Counter Terrorism Command have taken it on themselves to be the arbiters of what Halloween costume you can wear.”