Former Reclaim Australia member tells of feeling duped by far-right 'patriots'
Updated
A former member of Reclaim Australia has spoken publicly about how he was duped into joining the group he now believes is racist and potentially violent.
James Gilhome said he joined the anti-Islamism group in February after befriending its former spokesperson, Shermon Burgess, on Facebook.
He said his initial impression was that the group's values aligned with his "centralist" views and general concerns about extremism and radicalisation.
He helped promote it on social media, organised one of the group's early rallies in Hobart and even built a website for Mr Burgess called The Great Aussie Patriot, which has since been removed.
But Mr Gilhome said the public demands Mr Burgess and the Reclaim Australia group were making became more bizarre as time went by.
When he started to see people attend the rallies wearing neo-Nazi tattoos and making threats of violence, he began having second thoughts.
"Their list of demands seemed to grow longer and videos got more aggressive. I realised I'm on the wrong side here," he said.
In late May, Mr Burgess split from Reclaim Australia to represent the United Patriots Front — a far-right group that claims to "oppose the spread of left-wing treason and Islamism" — and his online videos became even more hate-filled.
"I didn't realise I was dealing with a neo-Nazi," Mr Gilhome said.
"I feel a little duped ... it worries me and it disturbs me because I've contributed to that."
The damage he may have done to the Muslim community in Australia is one of the things Mr Gilhome most regrets about his involvement with Reclaim Australia.
"I'd like to apologise to the Muslim community — the message that seems to have gotten out there is no Muslim is welcome in this country and that was certainly never my intention. Never in any shape or form," he told 774 ABC Melbourne's Mornings program.
"I'm just against religious extremism, any religion, not just Islam. And that's what I thought I was getting involved with."
With Mr Burgess and a handful of the more extreme members of Reclaim Australia now moving to the United Patriots Front, Mr Gilhome said he was somewhat comforted, but still concerned.
"[Reclaim Australia] are still demanding to ban halal ... and sharia law, but we'll never get (sharia law) and I haven't seen any Muslim trying to take down our constitution anyway, just a few isolated nut jobs," he said.
Nationwide rallies by Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots are planned for the weekend, with both groups likely to protest around the same time in Melbourne's CBD.
Mr Gilhome said he feared the potential for violent clashes between the groups.
"It all looks like it could get very messy and I agree there is the huge potential for violence," he said.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, community-and-society, government-and-politics, melbourne-3000, hobart-7000
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