A central figure in the anti-Islam street movement the United Patriots Front is a self-described "biblical crusader" with a long history of posting videos to social media in which he poses with semi-automatic weapons and threatens to take up arms against the Government and Muslims.
Chris Shortis, from Victoria, is one of three spokespeople in the United Patriots Front's leadership team, and has spoken at recent rallies in Bendigo, Richmond, and CBD.
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Chris Shortis: where guns meet God
Brandishing high-powered rifles while thanking God, here's a flavour of anti-Muslim activist Chris Shortis' YouTube rants about papal tyranny, the UN and his right to bear arms.
But his online statements are similar to those of far-right Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
Mr Shortis claims that Islam is a "demonic religion", says the Port Arthur massacre was a "wicked ploy" by the government to disarm gun owners, and outlines an apocalyptic vision in which the United Nations is attempting install the Pope as leader of a new world government. "Patriots," he claims, will be forced to take up arms and fight against the government and Muslims.
![Lead United Patriots Front member Chris Shortis](http://web.archive.org./web/20170919050417im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/s/9/2/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gkrk80.png/1504599265806.jpg)
"You are not going to defeat Islam by negotiation … our media, our western governments who are fawning them on our doorstep are making our problem worse," he says in one video entitled "Uncovering Islam".
"We'll end up fighting them one way or another … we should be doing it with absolute brutality. We did it with Japan … our freedom is under threat".
Dr Chloe Patton, an expert in the visual imagery of extremism from the University of South Australia, said Mr Shortis' presentation was similar to that of Breivik, a far-right terrorist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
"Here we have an individual who is clearly radicalised, who is brandishing firearms while preaching holy war. The intricate conspiracy theories and crusader symbolism immediately brings to mind Anders Breivik," Dr Patton said.
![Pictures from the Facebook page of United Patriots Front lead member Chris Shortis, aka sosministries1412](http://web.archive.org./web/20170919050417im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/s/9/1/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gkrk80.png/1446885797412.jpg)
Fairfax Media is not suggesting that Mr Shortis would resort to actual violence.
Mr Shortis regularly targets the media as well as progressive community groups, who he labels "traitors" and the "Marxist cultural elite". He filmed himself with members of his group storming a community radio station in Collingwood in an apparent effort to intimidate broadcasters who oppose the UPF's views.
![Lead United Patriots Front member Chris Shortis](http://web.archive.org./web/20170919050417im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/s/9/1/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gkrk80.png/1446885797412.jpg)
In another of his numerous videos, Mr Shortis recalls an incident at his workplace where management raised a complaint that was made by someone of Islamic faith. Mr Shortis told supporters: "Stand up patriots ... The time to worry about consequences is over".
In social media posts over the past two years, Mr Shortis has posed with a high-powered rifle alongside several other firearms, including a semi-automatic handgun.
![Guns and Bible.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170919050417im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/s/9/1/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gkrk80.png/1446885797412.jpg)
The revelation comes after Fairfax Media revealed that another UPF leader, Blair Cottrell, paraphrased Adolf Hitler in his videos, and wanted Hitler's thoughts taught in Australian classrooms.
Dr Patton questioned why Mr Shortis had not apparently come to the attention of authorities.
![Facebook profile picture of United Patriots Front lead member Chris Shortis](http://web.archive.org./web/20170919050417im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/s/9/2/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gkrk80.png/1446885797412.jpg)
"People have been incarcerated under anti-terror laws for much less than this," she said.
In July, the government's Counter Terrorism Strategy document pointed to far-right extremists as being of potential concern.
"It is also possible that individuals who are not part of, or inspired by, a proscribed terrorist group ... who are fixated on a particular issue will employ lone actor-type methods in Australia, requiring counter-terrorism responses from agencies and the community," the document says.
"The case of Anders Breivik underscores this possibility. Breivik was motivated by a far-right extremist world view based on distorted and complex ideologies."
Australian Federal Police acting national manager of counter terrorism Jennifer Hurst said the agency was watchful for such dangers.
"Obviously extremist views that could result in violence or community harm are a focus. When we are talking about far-right extremist groups, we are monitoring what's posted on their public facing sites," she said.
"It's important to make the point that the AFP is targeting the criminality, regardless of the person's background or ideology."
Fairfax Media has learned that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has taken a keen interest in the United Patriots Front, having recently approached community sources for information.
The level of attention given to far-right groups by Norwegian intelligence agencies was of intense interest in the aftermath of Breivik's murder spree, in which he set off a car bomb in Oslo killing eight people, before shooting dead 69 Norwegian Labour Party youth members on the island of Utoya. He had previously come to the attention of authorities but the information was ignored.
The intelligence failures, described as a "catalogue of mistakes", led to the resignation of Norway's chief of police, and widespread criticism of the intelligence service.
Mr Shortis and the United Patriots Front both failed to respond to requests for comment.