A prominent white supremacist has released a statement flouting NSW Police, after a group of neo-Nazis led a series of highly-condemned demonstrations across Sydney on the Australia Day long weekend.
Jacob Hersant, who is facing up to a year in jail for making the Nazi salute outside a courtroom, issued a statement gloating about wasting “millions of dollars” in police resources.
“We have cost the state unfathomable amounts in resources and legitimacy. We have received great publicity for our movement,” Hersant shared on Telegram just after midnight on Monday.
“The NSW Police will have spent millions of dollars this Australia Day weekend on us alone. They had the police helicopter, Raptor Squad, Riot Squad, regular police members and senior police members chase around 70 racists for 96 hours.”
The statement was shared under a video of members of the Victorian arm of the National Socialist Network (NSN) aboard a bus, leaving NSW, allegedly accompanied by four NSW Police cars.
The video featured the busload of men, filmed from the back with no faces on screen, singing a racist song that protested against immigration and included the lyrics “soldiers of our blood” and “fighters of our nation”.
Hersant also claimed the weekend was a “massive propaganda triumph” and said the members would not be paying the fines administered by officers.
“We’re sure this hurts the taxpayer generally more than it did us as individuals, as we will not be paying a single dollar of these fines handed out to us merely because we’re political activists with a view the government has made it fashionable to target,” he wrote.
“We are growing and they are scared. That is why the system is resorting to naked, brute force in an attempt to keep the white majority scared and scattered.”
The statement follows three neo-Nazi demonstrations held across Sydney during the Australia Day long weekend.
On Friday, a group of about 61 balaclava-clad men dressed in black attempted to travel from Artarmon to the city before they were intercepted by police. The group was issued with 61 infringement notices for offensive behaviour.
On Sunday morning, another group of about 20 masked men in black descended on Artarmon Reserve, with police containing the group and issuing some members with a public safety order.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has continued to unequivocally denounce the actions of the neo-Nazi group and said police had the authority to unmask their identities.
“In NSW, the police have the risk to unmask Nazis on our streets, so if you’re thinking that you can be anonymous and spread your hate, you can’t,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“You’ll be exposed as a racist to your family, your friends, your employers and your workmates for the first time.”
Mr Minns also flagged potential further reform that would explicitly ban the Nazi salute, strengthening laws that prohibit Nazi symbolism.
While an ongoing court case is examining whether acts like the Nazi salute equate to displaying Nazi symbolism, and is therefore illegal, Mr Minns said he would move to enact further legislation if needed.
“Explicitly the swastika is illegal in NSW, there’s a question as to whether a Nazi salute is as well,” he told Sunrise on Monday morning.
“I want to make it clear though that (salute) is not acceptable in NSW and if the current laws don’t cover it, we’ll move legislation to make it illegal.”