Neil Erikson

Neil Erikson (born 1985) is an Australian far-right extremist,[6] founding member of the United Patriots Front (UPF). Erikson is a neo-Nazi[1]. He has been convicted of assault, inciting contempt against Muslims, stalking, making threats to prevent a clergyman discharging duties and disturbing religious worship, affray and riotous behaviour. Along with Chris Shortis and Blair Cottrell, he is a member of the far right groups UPF and the Lads Society.[7]

Neil Erikson
Personal details
Born1985
Political partyUnited Patriots Front/Lads Society
(2015—present)
Other political
affiliations
Conservative Nationals (2019-present)
ResidenceHeidelberg West
Known forFounding United Patriots Front, antisemitism, Far-right activism, criminal convictions, neo-Nazism[1][2][3][4][5]

Erikson came to national prominence after posting a video of himself verbally abusing Iranian-born former Labor senator Sam Dastyari in a Melbourne bar. During the verbal attack Erikson called Dastyari a "terrorist" and a "little monkey" and told him to "go back home".[8] Erikson espouses the antisemitic canard and Jewish conspiracy theory of cultural Marxism.[9]

Activities

In 2014, Erikson was convicted of stalking. Charges were laid after Erikson called Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, threatening and insulting him. He spoke of circumcisions, blood money and Jewish sidelocks, and told Gutnick he knew his location and was coming to get him unless he paid. Magistrate Donna Bakos said Erikson's calls were motivated by prejudice and found he had little remorse for his crime.[10]

In September 2017, Erikson (by then a member of the Party for Freedom and UPF members Chris Shortis and Blair Cottrell were found guilty of inciting contempt against Muslims after they made a video of a fake beheading while protesting the building of a mosque in Bendigo.[11][12]

In 2018, Erikson was charged with making threats to prevent a clergyman discharging duties and disturbing religious worship, after he interrupted a church service at the Gosford Anglican Church by marching into the church dressed as Jesus Christ, holding a whip.[13] As of March 2019, Erikson had outstanding warrants and was wanted by NSW Police regarding an outstanding non-custodial arrest warrant related to the offence.[14]

In 2018 Erikson attended a rally in Perth run by Liberal MPs Andrew Hastie and Ian Goodenough in support of White South African farmers wanting to immigrate owing to South African farm attacks, a cause drumming up sympathy on the far-right, based partly on the White genocide conspiracy theory.[15]

Also in 2018, Erikson attended a Gold Coast "recruitment event" for the Liberal National Party of Queensland, for which he claims his flights were paid by someone else.[16]

In 2019, Erikson was involved in an altercation between Queensland Senator Fraser Anning and a 17-year-old boy. Erikson was recorded restraining the 17-year-old after the boy crushed an egg on the back of Anning's head while he was speaking at a political meeting in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin. The teenager egged Anning in response to comments made by the senator about the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, claiming that Muslim immigration had led to the attacks.[17] Erikson and a number of other UPF members tackled the boy to the ground, putting him in a headlock and repeatedly kicking and punching him.[18]

See also

References

  1. Maza, Cristina. "Neo-Nazi Neil Erikson Confused the Quran With the Bible in Court". Newsweek. Newsweek. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  2. Graham, Ben. "Secret location of Aussie underground fight club leaks". News.com. New.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  3. Toohey, Paul. "Mind wars: The extremists taking Australia to dark places". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. Hall, Bianca. "Police investigate kill threats against Councillor Stephen Jolly". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  5. Nathan, Julie. "The Rise of Australia's Activist Far Right: How Far Will It Go?". ABC. ABC. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  6. Molloy, Shannon. "We need to talk about the Australian flag and how it's being hijacked by extremists". News.com. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. Lads Society:
  8. Sam Dastyari:
  9. Koslowski, Max (11 January 2019). "How Australia's far-right were divided and conquered - by themselves". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019.
  10. "No jail for Melb man for racist calls". SBS News. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  11. "United Patriots Front trio found guilty of inciting serious contempt of Muslims". The Guardian. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  12. Butler, Josh (21 May 2018). "White Nationalist Extremists Storm Gosford Church". 10 Daily. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  13. Bali, Meghna (20 March 2019). "Man who tackled 'Eggboy' has outstanding warrant on charges relating to church incident". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  14. Martin, Sarah (1 May 2019). "Video shows far-right extremist Neil Erikson at rally headlined by Hastie and Goodenough". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  15. Martin, Sarah; Knaus, Christopher (3 May 2019). "Neil Erikson attended Gold Coast 'recruitment event' for the Liberal National party". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  16. "Fraser Anning punches teen after being egged while speaking to media in Melbourne". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  17. "Christchurch mosque shootings: Senator Fraser Anning slammed". www.news.com.au. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

Further reading

Koslowski, Max (11 January 2019). "How Australia's far-right were divided and conquered - by themselves". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019.

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