As Australia is still reeling from the shock of a deadly jihadist attack on Hanukkah revelers, a young man has been charged after performing a Nazi salute in Canberra shopping centres. Police allege the teenager also entered the Australian National University campus and “posted propaganda-style stickers” on other buildings and properties.
An 18-year-old man has been charged with performing two Nazi salutes (also known as “zig throwing”) at Canberra shopping centers and posting “propaganda-style stickers” in recent months.
The man is expected to appear in a Capital Territory court, where police will allege he encountered a member of the public while posting a sticker in a shopping center in October and then gave a Nazi salute before leaving the centre, The Guardian writes.
On December 12, the defendant gave the Nazi salute again at another shopping center, police said.
According to police, the man will also be charged with repeatedly trespassing on Australian National University property in August and September, where he is said to have “affixed propaganda stickers to buildings and other property”.
The young Nazi fan was also charged with two counts of damaging government property.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) national security investigation team executed a search warrant on Wednesday at a home in the Canberra suburb of Weston, where they seized mobile phones, computers, stickers, storage devices, video cameras and clothing.
Federal Police Assistant Commissioner for Counter-Terrorism and Special Investigations Stephen Nutt said Australia had zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.
“Anyone accused of giving a Nazi salute is demonstrating criminal behavior that causes pain and suffering to the Jewish community and divides Australian society,” Nutt argued.
He said a national security investigation team was established in September to target those who cause “serious harm to Australia's social cohesion, including efforts to vilify marginalized communities”.
“Anti-Semitism is a cancer that requires swift and direct action, and that is what the federal police continue to do,” Nutt said. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we are committed to ending hatred, division and violence in society.”
Police have warned that one sign that a person may be vulnerable to radicalization is if they stay away from their usual friends and family, The Guardian noted.
Other signs include an increase in the extremist nature of the rhetoric or propaganda they share; children's use of hateful or emotional language; developing obsessions with conspiracy theories or controversial social issues; show extreme reactions to certain news or policies; or spend more and more time on fringe forums on the Internet.
