A nationalist activist has been raided by armed police for allegedly posting a meme containing a Nazi symbol on his Telegram channel, and is now facing up to five years behind bars.
Michael Nelson, 21, who lives in Victoria and is the leader of the Riverina Region chapter of political organisation White Australia, had his home searched by Australian Federal Police officers at 6.50am on Thursday. His grandmother’s house was also raided.
He was not charged, but police seized electronic devices, a hardcover copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, two flags and a patch as part of an investigation into allegations Mr Nelson broke recently strengthened federal Nazi symbols laws by allegedly posting a meme containing a swastika “in a public place”.
If charged and convicted, Mr Nelson will face a mandatory minimum sentence of one year’s imprisonment and a maximum of five years, and could become the first person prosecuted under Commonwealth legislation that came into effect in January 2024, and was made stricter in February this year after lobbying from Jewish groups.
Mr Nelson, who was “debanked” last year for his political opinions, told Noticer News police should be fighting immigrant crime instead, and that it was “disgusting” they “have the right according to the law to break into my house and harass me because I unapologetically stand up for honourable ideals”.
“I feel a righteous anger for what they have done and do to our people when they should be spending more resources trying to put a stop to the crime waves in this country perpetuated by the refuse of the third world that our government has brought in,” he said.
“Despite this anger I am in good spirits as I know that the cause I stand for is noble and that the government only feels the need to come down on me with such force because they recognise that my politics are a genuine threat to their corrupt and wicked establishment.
“This situation only makes me more hardened in my beliefs and actions and will only make me fight more for the preservation and advancement of White Australia.”
White Australia leader Thomas Sewell said in a statement on his Telegram channel that Mr Nelson “has taken on the huge responsibility of managing the Riverina Chapter which includes recruitment, organising and activism for three sub-chapters that include Albury, Wagga Wagga, and, you guessed it, Canberra”.
“It is not a coincidence that the first person in the organisation to be raided for posting a meme by the federal police, is our Canberra Representative,” he said.
“The federal government are making it very clear that they do not want to compete with our organisation, they would much rather attempt to destroy it by threatening our leaders and disrupting our legal political activities.
“White Australia stands by Michael Nelson and his constitutional right to political expression.”
The raids come a fortnight after about 150 members of White Australia’s activist branch the National Socialist Network (NSN) marched through Melbourne’s CBD with a flag reading “White man, fight back”.
NSN leader Jacob Hersant last year became the first person to be charged and convicted under similar new laws passed in Victoria, but is appealing his one-month jail sentence on the grounds that the laws violate his implied right to political expression under the constitution.
Two months after his conviction a female Victoria Police officer who was accused of making Nazi salutes and saying “Heil Hitler” at the police academy escaped without charge.
Western Australian man Samuel Croll, 20, in June became the first person charged under that state’s Nazi symbols laws after having his door broken down by armed police.
And last month nationalist activist Blair Cottrell had his Melbourne home raided by AFP officers and his devices seized over an allegation that he breached the same federal laws by performing a Nazi salute in front of a Muslim woman at a Perth university campus.
Mr Cottrell was not charged and denies making the salute.
Header image: Left, Mr Nelson during the raid. Right, in front of Parliament House in Canberra (supplied).
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