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Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes have been forced to abandon a press conference in West Melbourne on the edge of the city after being confronted by neo-Nazis.
Thomas Sewell, the leader of the National Socialist Network, began yelling at the premier and screamed at the Victoria Police officers who attempted to separate him from the premier, treasurer and media pack on Tuesday.
Allan and Symes quickly left, along with backbench MP Sheena Watt, and the press conference was abandoned.
Sewell incorrectly said that Australians did not have the right to protest and made the false claim that 50,000 protesters attended the anti-immigration March for Australia that descended into violence in Melbourne on Sunday. This masthead estimates about 6000 people took part in the anti-immigration rally in Melbourne.
Footage also emerged on Sunday of an ugly confrontation in which Sewell was shown kicking an unidentified person at an Aboriginal camp in central Melbourne.
Sewell and dozens of others charged Camp Sovereignty, a sacred Aboriginal burial site in Kings Domain and the location of a permanent vigil since January 2024, shortly after 5pm on Sunday, after breaking away from the anti-immigration rally.
Thomas Sewell at Sunday’s march.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The neo-Nazi leader faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday as part of an anticipated three-day hearing where he’s seeking to contest a string of charges.
Sewell is accused of intimidating a law enforcement officer in November 2024 and contravening two personal safety intervention orders, taken out to protect the policeman and a family member, by posting material about them on the streaming platform Rumble.
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Sewell is also charged with getting another person to publish content about the two protected people online and sharing a video on X of one of the alleged victims in 2024.
The court heard that he also faced earlier charges of intimidating the law enforcement officer in October 2023, as well as the officer’s family member.
The court is expected to hear from a number of police witnesses, including those who arrested Sewell, who remains on bail as he contests the charges against him.
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