Neo-Nazi threatens Lidia Thorpe and burns Aboriginal flag in vile video
- Neo-Nazi posts video threatening Lidia Thorpe
- He makes racist comments and burns the Aboriginal flag
- The disturbing video is being investigated by the police
- READ MORE: Neo-Nazis try to infiltrate the ADF
Disturbing videos have emerged of a neo-Nazi threatening Lidia Thorpe and burning the Aboriginal flag.
The video posted this week shows the man, who is dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, claiming to be a member of the neo-Nazi group Warriors for Convict Resistance.
Using a voice modulator, he reads a statement from his phone endorsing ‘white Australia’, makes racist comments about Indigenous people and threatens Senator Thorpe.
He then burns the Aboriginal flag and gives a Nazi salute.
Senator Thorpe will make a statement about the video in Parliament on Thursday.
Australian Federal Police are investigating a disturbing video of a balaclava-clad neo-Nazi threatening Lidia Thorpe before burning an Aboriginal flag
The Australian Federal Police was alerted to the video on Tuesday when it was posted on social media site X.
It has since been removed and the account that posted it has been deactivated, but the AFP continues to investigate the matter.
“Reports of intimidation, nuisance, insulting and threatening communications against parliamentarians/electoral offices have increased over the past two years, including via social media,” an AFP spokesperson told AAP.
“Threats of harm or violence against Australian senior officials are criminal offenses and will be fully investigated by the AFP.”
Federal government frontbenchers have denounced the despicable clip.
Public Services Minister Bill Shorten described it as “cowardly and disgusting” during an appearance on Nine’s Today Show on Thursday.
Senator Thorpe (pictured) will make a statement in Parliament on Thursday about the despicable clip
“I don’t know what it is with these man-baby Nazis,” he said.
“You wear a hood so no one can see you. They think they’re so tough.’
He later added, “I wish that guy would take off his hood so people can see what kind of joker he is.”
“That man can’t even remember his lines, he has to read them from a phone.”
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil also agreed.
“That video is threatening and disgusting, and is clearly deliberately targeted at her to deter her from expressing her views,” she said on the program.
“I have many political differences with Senator Lidia Thorpe, but no one in our country deserves to be treated that way, especially not someone who lives in this country.”
Federal government frontbenchers, including Public Service Minister Bill Shorten (pictured), have condemned the clip
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil (pictured) called the video ‘threatening, disgusting’
“We cannot live in a strong democracy like Australia if anyone is treated this way.
“It is horribly disgusting and the Australian government will do everything it can to support Senator Lidia Thorpe in what must be an absolutely terrifying experience.”
A similar video, made by the same neo-Nazi group in February 2022, used a racial slur against the leader of the Blak Sovereign Movement and showed the Aboriginal flag being burned.
The Albanian government announced a law earlier this year banning the public display or sale of Nazi symbols.
Victoria passed legislation banning the public display of the Nazi swastika in May last year.
It makes it a criminal offense for anyone to deliberately display the Nazi symbol in public, and those who do so face fines of up to nearly $22,000, twelve months in prison, or both.
People will only be charged if they don’t comply with a police directive to remove the symbol.