Tagged with Firearm Owners United

Neo-Nazi group ‘The Lads Society’ @ 34 Thomas Street, Ashfield, Sydney : Help shut it down!

Neo-Nazi grouplet ‘The Lads Society’ — which arose from the ashes of the ‘United Patriots Front’ (UPF) and its stillborn political party ‘Fortitude’ (2015–2017) — currently operate two social centres, one in the south-east suburb of Cheltenham in Melbourne and the other in Ashfield in inner-west Sydney.

The centre in Cheltenham (Unit 9/158 Chesterville Road), which opened in October 2017, is scheduled to close in January 2019.

No reason has been given for the closure of the bunker in Cheltenham, but it’s worth noting that the estate agents listed the property as being available on November 7, just a few short weeks after an ABC exposé (in which Lads members starred) on neo-Nazi infiltration into the NSW branch of the Young Nationals.

The centre in Ashfield also featured in the exposé.

Spearheaded by the former fuehrer of short-lived neo-Nazi grouplet ‘Squadron 88’, Mark McDonald, The Lads Society centre in Ashfield is located at No.34 Thomas Street, and leased by way of the Colemon Property Group.

You may remember Squadron 88 from such exciting escapades as when they stuffed letterboxes in Bondi with anti-Semitic tracts in August 2014. And again in September 2014. Or, when they briefly adopted geriatric neo-Nazi Ross ‘The Skull’ May as the group’s mascot.


Above (L to R) : John Bolton (Cottrell’s lawyer/ex-Australian Liberty Alliance), Blair Cottrell (UPF/Lads), Mark McDonald (Squadron 88/Lads), Oscar Tuckfield (Young Nationals/Lads).

In response to the establishment of The Lads in Cheltenham, a local group formed, ‘South East Community Action’, to campaign to close the neo-Nazi organising space.

Now, in response to the establishment of The Lads Society in Ashfield, another campaigning group has formed: ‘Ashfield Community Action’ (Facebook /// Twitter). To keep abreast of its progress, please like/share/follow their social media.

Finally:

• Ashfield was the site of a previous neo-Nazi infestation in the 1960s.

• The Lads have been making noises about setting up shop in both Adelaide and Brisbane. Something of the flavour of the group’s membership was given when two were chucked out of a bar in Brisbane for throwing up Nazi salutes.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tom Sewell & The Lads Society ~versus~ Nathan Sykes & The Australia First Party

Tom Sewell & The Lads Society

For those of you coming in late, Tom Sewell is a 20-something, New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based neo-Nazi activist. With a background in right-wing nationalist politics, Sewell emerged onto the political landscape in April 2015, alongside Blair Cottrell, at the first ‘Reclaim Australia’ rally in Melbourne, and later served as Cottrell’s sidekick in the ‘United Patriots Front’ (UPF). Unfortunately for Sewell, the UPF collapsed in a heap after Facebook deleted it from the platform in mid-2017, and its proposed political party, ‘Fortitude’ — which was launched at the home of the short-lived ‘Aryan Nations’ in Perth in late 2015 and for which Sewell was slated to stand for a seat in Victoria — met a similar fate. (As for the Aryan Nations, it folded after several of its members were arrested and later convicted of the murder that took place several months after the party launch.)

Undeterred by failure, Sewell pressed on and, in 2017, alongside his comrade James Buckle (former President of gun lobby group ‘Firearm Owners United’), Cottrell, Stuart Von Moger, and a handful of other AltRightists and neo-Nazis, he established something called ‘The Lads Society’.

Describing itself as a fraternal organisation, The Lads opened up an organising space in the suburb of Cheltenham and packed it with weight machines, various species of nazi, and one colossal ego. Further, in addition to attending a number of political rallies and other events, under Von Moger’s leadership The Lads were hired by Axiomatic Events to provide security for Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern during their July tour and were most recently employed by the organisers of the ‘March for Babies’. The March was organised by a number of principally religious, anti-abortion groups, and starred His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke.

Largely ignored by media, The Lads finally got their moment to shine last month when an attempt to hijack the Young Nationals in NSW, in which members of the Lads participated, was exposed by the ABC’s Alex Mann. Now, sadly, not only has The Lads’ bunker in Ashfield in Sydney, along with several of its members, been exposed, but this week real estate agent richardson french placed the property in Melbourne, located at 9/158 Chesterville Road, back on the market. To add some spice to proceedings, a few months ago a Facebook account called ‘ladsleaks’ popped up and began posting internal discussions taking place among The Lads on their secret page. Among other things, ladsleaks posted images of Lads in Brisbane sieg heiling ‘peasants’ and a video of Cottrell’s angry react. (The content below was posted a few weeks ago.)

Nathan Sykes & The Australia First Party

Nathaniel Jacob Sassoon Sykes (below, centre, with Lads) is a middle-aged Sydney resident, member of Dr Jim Saleam‘s ‘Australia First Party’ (AFP), principal author of the blog ‘United Nationalists Australia’ (UNA) and former contributor to leading US neo-Nazi website ‘The Daily Stormer’. Oddly enough, he’s also Jewish.

The UNA blog functions as a kind of unofficial online shit-sheet for the AFP, taking pot-shots at various of its rivals on the right and its enimies on the left. The former category includes the (now-defunct) ‘Party for Freedom’ (PFF), UPF, ‘Klub Nation’ and, of course, The Lads Society.

Tom Sewell & The Lads Society ~versus~ Nathan Sykes & The Australia First Party

As noted above, a small amount of material sourced from The Lads private Facebook group has appeared elsewhere on the site by way of ‘ladsleaks’. As well as confirming that the group is mostly comprised of neo-Nazis (who are well aware — duh — that most folks hate ‘nazis’, and thus they have to lie and dissemble about their politics when in public), the conversation below reveals no small amount of anger and upset directed at Sykes and his lvl boss, Jim Saleam. In addition to Sewell and Von Moger, among those participating in the disco are wealthy German-Australian businessman and ex-NPD member turned ‘national anarchist’ Welf Herfurth, batshit scribbler David Hilton (‘Moses Apostaticus’), fellow Queenslander, former AFP member, ‘Whitelaw Towers’ and UNA blog contributor Jim Perren (who helped organise Fortitude’s failed launch in Toowoomba) and ‘Tyler Winchester’ (AKA Mark McDonald, founder of ‘Squadron 88’ turned Lad).

Choice quote: ‘AFP is a cancer and a waste of time’; Jim Saleam ‘smears and destroys everything that is not on his [side]. When I refused to further bankroll the Sydney Forum he turned on [me] like a dog’ (Herfurth).




















Neo-Nazis March for Babies in Melbourne


Above : Neo-Nazi security worker Stuart Von Moger follows hot on the heels of His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke.

Heh.

Following on from revelations concerning the neo-Nazi infiltration of the Young Nationals in NSW, a small contingent of local neo-Nazis were also involved in the ‘March for Babies’ in Melbourne yesterday.

Lead by Stuart Von Moger — who appears to have been employed in an Official™ capacity by march organisers — among those present were his Lads Society kameraden James Buckle (Firearm Owners United), Blair Cottrell, Jacob Hersant (Antipodean Resistance) and Tom Sewell. Also present were serial pests Neil Erikson and Rino ‘Bluebeard’ Grgurovic, among a small number of other far-right luminaries.

Several women and non-binary folks heckled the speakers at the March but were swiftly seized by patriotik Volk including Hersant and Sewell, before being handed over to their friends in blue uniform.


See also : Who are Antipodean Resistance? (August 2018 Update) (August 13, 2018) | Jacob Hersant : An Antipodean Resistance Lad (April 13, 2018).

The (neo-Nazi) Lads Society : Blair Cottrell’s pro-tip : Wear Your Swastikas On The Inside

A problem for the Australian antifa, and indeed for anti-fascist groups in Europe and the US, is that few people and organisations they oppose here have much to do with Nazism. ~ Chip Le Grand, Antifa Australia goes for the jugular, The Australian, December 9, 2017

For those of you coming in late, ‘The Lads Society’ is a relatively new grouping on the radical right which evolved out of the now-defunct ‘United Patriots Front’ (UPF). Spearheaded by ex-UPF fuehrer Blair Cottrell and his sidekick Tom Sewell, ‘The Lads’ opened a social centre in the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham last year, have another in Sydney, and would appear to be keen to expand the franchise to Brisbane and other major cities.

Most recently, ‘The Lads’ — membership of which overlaps with ‘Antipodean Resistance’ — were hired by Axiomatic Events to provide security for Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern during their speaking tour. This fact went completely unmentioned in media reportage of the tour, as did the fact that when the Lads and members of the racist gang called the ‘True Blue Crew’ (TBC) organised a meeting in January to discuss the formation of vigilante squads to hunt African youth, they did so at the Lads’ clubhouse in Cheltenham.

Sadly, this is about par for the course for Australian jernalisms on the extreme-right, with the only article on the group appearing in June (Far right nationalists open private men-only clubs in Melbourne and Sydney, Rebecca Puddy, ABC, June 7, 2018) but with scattered references to the Lads’ participation in Sydney Watson’s ‘March for Men’ last month, an invitation the crackpot ‘Australian Jewish Association’ extended to Southern and the Lads to tour Bondi and Caulfield and, prior to this, members of The Lads Society in Sydney addressing a nationalist rally by the TBC in NSW. Note that: a) the TBC has been one of the most outspoken defenders of the neo-Nazi Lads and; b) its primary Facebook page has recently closed.

In any case, last week a new page appeared on Facebook: LadsLeaks LadsLeaks. The small amount of material thus far uploaded to the page revolves around two Lads — ‘Kingsley James Taylor’ and ‘Beau Maverick’ — being kicked out of a bar in Brisbane after making Nazi salutes, and then later one of them being detained (for unknown reasons, but presumably related to their Nazi behaviour at the bar) by police. The video appears to date from December 2017.

In and of itself, a pair of neo-Nazis acting like arseholes is not especially noteworthy; however, it’s the angry reaction of Der Fuehrer, Blair Cottrell, to this open display of neo-Nazi beliefs that’s most telling. Thus, after informing the Lads that his recent absence from the group’s activities is because he’s been fucking a lot of women, Cottrell makes it plain that such imagery is Bad.

Very Bad.

Why? Well, according to Cottrell …

    … from what I’m seeing, everyone’s doing nothing but praise them for it. Oh, good on them. Oh, the problem is society, the problem’s not us: we know the truth. Society are the ones who are bad. We’re good, so we’re gonna run around Roman-saluting people. Tell me, what was your goal? When you’re sitting in a fucking pub or you’re going into a public place, what’s your goal when you Roman-salute people and say Sieg Heil? What’s your fucking point? What are you trying to achieve? Come on, give it to me, give it to me in the comments. Tell me how that’s practical and what the fucking purpose is. Give it to me. Oh you’re raising awareness for the cause? What the fuck does that mean?

    I’ll tell you what you wanted, I’ll tell you what your purpose was. You wanted to stir people up. You wanted to go out and stir some fucking peasants up. And you did stir ’em up. And then when they got stirred up, they called the police. And then you cry victim. Oh, we didn’t do anything wrong. Whoop-di-fucking-do. What did that achieve? And then you’ve got somebody else on the page saying Oh, I’m a fucking skinhead, I have been for fifteen years. Now full respect to you, I don’t care what you do with your life. But trying to tell everyone else that they’re basically a … or to subordinate themselves to you, because you’re more experienced and you — quote unquote — earned your laces: what the fuck does that even mean? And you have done time for the cause? You’ve done time because you beat up some Pakis, probably. And is that what you want for us, for us to beat up some people who aren’t white, to earn our laces? You know, is that your plan? To bash some people who aren’t white, to do some jail time and then finally we can be considered highborn skinhead neo-Nazis? Really? Is that your plan to win the hearts and minds of the people? That’s a good fucking plan, well done. Cocksuckery! And why is everyone sticking up for it? Why am I the only one speaking sense? Jesus Christ! You start a new organisation, you get guys putting their balls on the line, putting a lot of money into this fucking club, into this new group, putting a lot of their labour into it, dedicating themselves to it, believing in it, and then someone sticks their big fucking red-lace skinhead boot in and says fuck you all, let’s go do some jail time, let’s earn our laces, let’s go Sieg Heil people in the street, that’ll get us some new members! Fucking clue on to it dickheads, Jesus Christ, is anyone gonna say anything … ?

    Fucking LARPers? Fucking oath they’re LARPers! We had one at the club last night. Now I don’t know if he’s in this group, I don’t know if he’s watching me now, but I don’t give a fuck, I can’t remember his name. But he was respectful of me, said Oh I love what you’re doing, I love the approach that you’re taking. But then later on, he was having a conversation — this guy who either was a skinhead or still is, I don’t fucking know — he was having a conversation with one of our newest members, who’s just a Christian; that’s it. He doesn’t know that much — I don’t think he does anyway — but he’s a good guy, and he’s open to sensible conversation. And this former or current skinhead guy, whatever he is, wants to start a fight with him, because he doesn’t know about the Jews, so let’s beat him up! Great fucking solution! Wow, how’d you think of that, fuckhead! Jesus fucking Christ! He ended up having to fuck off. I’m surprised that Christian kid stuck around, but he was good enough to.

    Seriously, just to wrap it up, too, just to wrap it up, the last fucking thing I’ll say is, do you really think that, if Adolf Hitler rose from the grave, if his spirit descended and stood beside you, put his hand on your shoulder, and he surveyed your jackboots with your red laces, and your fucking swastika tattoos, and your abrasive, fuck-the-world attitude, your little syndicate-separatist cult, do you really think he’d be proud of you? Do you really think he would say you’re a true national-socialist, well done? Do you think the man who said all great movements are popular movements and one must adjust himself to the times would be proud of you, would believe in you? Get a fucking clue! Anyway, suppose I’m just venting a little bit but, I reckon some of you needed to hear this. And don’t reply to this video with oh fuck you, you don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re the new guy on the block, we’re the real deal, you’re a poser, whatever the fuck you people say, don’t reply to me with that shit, take on some constructive criticism, yeah? Take it on board. Be a fucking man, take some criticism, on the fucking chin, and think, fuck maybe he’s right, maybe this guy’s got a plan, maybe he can sorta see what’s gonna happen in the future and maybe he’s trying to do the best that he can for this group, you know?

    So yeah — here’s my two cents.

Another video features imagery of the Cheltenham bunker, taken at its opening in October 2017, overlaid with a Nazi marching song, ‘Erika’, by the Nazi composer Herms Niel. Funnily enough, James Buckle, one-time President of ‘Firearm Owners United’, confirms his membership of the group in a comment on the video:

Bonus!

The Lads — Tom Sewell and Stuart Von Moger — celebrate the opening of the Cheltenham clubhouse with some fitting Nazi muzak:

Added Bonus!

Mister Cottrell discusses a proposal by Matt Doran of Channel 7’s Sunday Night to work together to create a segment on The Lads and their important work fighting African street crime. Mister Cottrell states that he was paid several hundred dollars by Channel 7 for the inconvenience. Sadly, the segment appears not to have been completed.

Who are Antipodean Resistance? (August 2018 Update)

If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention. ~ Heather Heyer (1985–2017)

Briefly:

‘Antipodean Resistance’ are a neo-Nazi grouplet which emerged out of the ‘United Patriots Front’ swamp in 2016. I wrote about the group in September 2017 and again in April 2018. Its members like to make a nuisance of themselves by covering skools, universities and synagogues in neo-Nazi propaganda and attending patriotik marches and rallies. RMIT University in Melbourne and the beachside suburb of Brighton have recently been blessed by their agitprop, which is regularly documented by the group via its account on the GAB social media platform (AKA ‘Twitter for Nazis’).

Most recently, members of the group were hired by Axiomatic Events in order to provide security for Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern during the course of their hate-speech tour. In doing so, the boys were joined by the members of another neo-Nazi grouplet, ‘The Lads Society’. Indeed, there is a strong cross-over in membership between the two groups, as future publications will detail. Thus last month, ‘The White Rose Society’ began publishing what will be an ongoing series of exposes of members of both Antipodean Resistance and The Lads Society. New entrants include Mathew Baston (L) and Nathaniel Anderson (R):

thewhiterosesociety blog is here and may be contacted via thewhiterosesociety[at]protonmail[dot]com.

While media reportage on neo-Nazis and fascists Down Under is generally poor, it’s a Good thing that independent anti-fascist researchers are active, and from what I can gather there’s a good deal more to come … 😉