Victoria Police intend to charge notorious Australian neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant with “grossly offensive public conduct” after about 30 masked men gathered at Melbourne's Flinders Street police station.
Officers arrested the 24-year-old North Melbourne man at the scene on Saturday, where he was questioned for “grossly offensive public conduct”.
Hersant, who in 2023 became the first Victorian to be charged with performing a Nazi salute in public after a crackdown on state laws, was released with the intention of being arraigned and will appear in court at a later stage.
He is also expected to appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court in September on the 2023 charges.
Eight other men were questioned by police for offensive behaviour in a public place and were released with the intention of being arraigned.
Around 30 people dressed in black stormed the main train station around 4:10 p.m., where they started chanting offensive phrases and held up a banner reading: “Mass deportation now.”
The unplanned demonstration was organised by the National Socialist Network, believed to be the largest neo-Nazi and white supremacist group active in Australia.
Victoria Police say the group quickly dispersed once they arrived at the scene, where officers confiscated their banner and a flag.
“The police will assess the circumstances of the demonstration and analyze the situation of the incident and the people involved,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“Anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has footage or information, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online.”
In April, Hersant and known neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell avoided an appeal of their convictions for an attack on a group of hikers during a demonstration at Cathedral Ranges State Park on May 8, 2021.
At the time, County Judge Kellie Blair sentenced Sewell to 37 days in jail, but he was allowed to walk free after the court acknowledged he had already spent more than six months in solitary confinement.
Hersant was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
Judge Karen Emerton told the court that Judge Kellie Blair was entitled to consider Sewell's prison sentence as sufficient punishment.
He said the panel found Hersant's sentence manifestly inadequate but dismissed the appeal under the court's “residual discretion.”
“It would be counterproductive to return him to custody in circumstances where he was a young offender who had completed the full 200 hours of work imposed by the community corrections order,” Judge Emerton said.
Hersant and Sewell were also involved in the much-criticised neo-Nazi Australia Day demonstration in Sydney this year, during which police intercepted a group of around 70 masked men at North Sydney station.
