Martin Sellner

Martin Sellner
Martin Sellner (2016)
Born (1989-01-08) 8 January 1989
Vienna, Austria
Citizenship Austrian
Alma mater University of Vienna
Website martin-sellner.at

Martin Sellner (born 8 January 1989) is an Austrian Neue Rechte activist,[1] and leader of the Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs (IBÖ, Identitarian Movement of Austria),[2][3][4] a part of the alt-right movement.[5][6][7]

In 2008, he helped leading Austrian Neo-Nazis hinder liberal demonstrations and made pilgrimages to memorial services for Wehrmacht soldiers.[4]

In March 2018, he was denied entry and deported from the United Kingdom.[8][9][10]

Biography

Sellner was raised outside of Vienna. He became involved in nationalist politics as a teenager, being part of Austria's neo-Nazi scene.[11] As of 2016, Sellner is studying philosophy and law in Vienna.[12]

Activism

In 2008, he helped leading Austrian Neo-Nazis hinder liberal demonstrations and made pilgrimages to memorial services for Wehrmacht (Nazi Defense Force) soldiers.[4] As of 2016, he said that he had broken with neo-Nazism, and that the rising popularity of Nazism is a failure of society.[4]

In April 2016, he disrupted a theatre performance of Elfriede Jelinek's piece, Die Schutzbefohlenen (theatre performance with migrants seeking asylum[13]), along with around 30 members of his organisation, spilling fake blood.[14] The blood was meant to symbolize the "blood of Bataclan and Brussels".[15]

In February 2017, Sellner was involved in a fight with a Vienna U-Bahn station where he used pepper spray on people Sellner described as far-left activists. Since this incident, he has been banned from carrying weapons.[16]

In March 2018, Sellner and his girlfriend Brittany Pettibone were denied entry to the United Kingdom at Luton Airport on the grounds that their presence in the United Kingdom was not conducive to the public good.[17] Sellner intended to deliver an address at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park.[18] They were denied entry, detained for two days and deported.[17][19]

Views

The intellectual Wolfgang Ullrich has suggested that there are connections between the worldview of Sellner and the theories of Martin Heidegger and Carl Schmitt.[20]

ITV's documentary film investigation Undercover – The New British Far-Right claimed the existence of undercover footage of Sellner discussing contacts between Generation Identity and white supremacist groups in the United States, but stated that these contacts must be hidden due to public relations. The documentary claimed that Sellner stated that Jews were a problem in the 1920s and made references to the "Jewish question". Sellner also said that the domination of the American alt-right by the "Jewish question" is a "complete strategical and theoretical failure". It claimed he said he was an antisemite in his youth, and that his friends made offensive comments about the holocaust.[21] He supports the Great Replacement theory. Sellner responded in a statement, calling the documentary a "hit piece", and that the statements were taken out of context. In a statement released by Generation Identity and Sellner, they stated that the group wants to preserve European "ethno-cultural identity" and stated that the group has no hidden agendas.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ Micha Brumlik: Das alte Denken der neuen Rechten, Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, March 2016
  2. ↑ Shubert, Atika (2 December 2016). "Hipster or hatemonger? The trendy young face of Austria's far-right". CNN. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Faiola, Anthony (19 May 2016). "Austria's right-wing populism reflects anti-Muslim platform of Donald Trump". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Reuter, Benjamin (20 May 2016). "'Right-Wing Hipsters' Increasingly Powerful In Austria". Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "Meet the IB, Europe's version of America's alt-right". The Economist. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "A European alt-right group wants to take to the sea to stop rescuers from saving migrants". Vox. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Austrian presidential hopeful Norbert Hofer rides Trump's wave". Sky News. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Hosenball, Mark (11 March 2018). "British Authorities Ban Three Foreign Far-Right Activists". Reuters. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Gross, Jenny (12 March 2018). "U.K. Bars Entry to Two Far-Right Activists". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Oppenheim, Maya (18 March 2018). "Lutz Bachmann: Founder of far-right anti-Islam group Pegida barred from entry to UK and deported". Independent. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Simon Cox and Anna Meisel (20 September 2018). "Martin Sellner: The new face of the far right in Europe". BBC News. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  12. ↑ Andreas Speit: Bürgerliche Scharfmacher. Deutschlands neue rechte Mitte – von AfD bis Pegida. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-280-05632-5, Page 169.
  13. ↑ ""Die Schutzbefohlenen": Weinen mit Jelinek". Die Presse. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  14. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela (21 July 2017). "Sicilian mayor moves to block far-right plan to disrupt migrant rescues". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  15. ↑ "Identitäre Bewegung: Das lächelnde Gesicht der Neuen Rechten". Huffington Post. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Nach Schuss in U2-Station: Rechtem droht ein Jahr Haft". Heute. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  17. 1 2 Porter, Tom (12 March 2018). "Alt-Right Media Personalties Denied Entry to UK". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  18. ↑ Peyer, Robin de (10 March 2018). "Martin Sellner: Far-right leader plans Hyde Park speech after Ukip event cancelled". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "Canadian far-right activist Lauren Southern barred from Britain for anti-Muslim views". National Post. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Wolfgang Ullrich: Die Wiederkehr der Schönheit. Über einige unangenehme Begegnungen. In: Pop-Zeitschrift.de. 7 November 2017.
  21. 1 2 "Undercover: Inside Britain's New Far Right (44:00-48:00)". ITV. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  22. ↑ "Generation Identity rally in London: We are for Europeans "without a migration background" – HOPE not hate". HOPE not hate. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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