White nationalist jailed for hateful Australia Day rant
Miklos Bolza |
A man who threw his support behind neo-Nazis and spouted anti-Semitic remarks to an Australia Day rally crowd has been reprimanded and jailed for his offensive conduct.
Brandan Koschel attended the March for Australia protest alongside hundreds of others winding their way through Sydney’s city centre.
The 34-year-old took the stage at the end of the march and endorsed neo-Nazi views before being immediately arrested by police.
On Wednesday, he was sentenced at Downing Centre Local Court to 12 months behind bars for intentionally inciting hatred.
Magistrate Sharon Freund slammed Koschel’s 40-second speech – in which he twice called Jews the “greatest enemy” – as clearly anti-Semitic and vilifying a vulnerable community.
The offensive, abhorrent language was then followed up by neo-Nazi symbolism, the magistrate said.
The 34-year-old wrapped up his speech by “heiling” white Australia and Thomas Sewell, the leader of Australia’s most prominent neo-Nazi group, the now-disbanded National Socialist Network.
He also called for the release of jailed neo-Nazi lieutenant Joel Davis.
“He intended to incite hatred amongst the crowd he was addressing,” Ms Freund said.
“He intended to incite hatred against the Jewish community and Jews in general.”
The magistrate noted the Jewish community was particularly vulnerable after an uptick in anti-Semitic attacks that culminated in the tragic Bondi Beach massacre, in which 15 people lost their lives during a Chanukah celebration in December.
That mass shooting took place six weeks before Koschel took the stage, the magistrate noted.
The 34-year-old bowed his head and closed his eyes as he listened to Ms Freund’s remarks from a cell at Shortland prison in the Hunter Valley.
The denunciation of these types of anti-Semitic remarks made in a public forum on such an iconic national holiday was essential, the magistrate added.
“A clear sentencing response is required to convey that the invocation or normalisation of hatred directed at the Jewish people … will not be tolerated,” she said.
Koschel had also shown no remorse, contrition or insight into his offending.
He was, however, given a discount to his sentence due to his early guilty plea.
His non-parole period of nine months will expire on October 25.
AAP