The leader of far-right wing group the United Patriots Front has stepped down after members laughed at a video making fun of him.
Shermon Burgess has handed over the leadership of the group in a video posted online, which has led protests against a proposed mosque in Bendigo, after a fellow member made a video about him.
“He made a video mocking myself and another patriot who have actually done things for the movement,” Burgess said in a video posted online on Thursday.
“Yet here are supposed patriots sharing this video and laughing about it.”
Burgess has handed the leadership of the UPF to Blair Cottrell. “He’s got what it takes, and the man is a natural leader,” he said.
“I won’t be doing it any more. Sure, I’ll still support the movement, but I won’t be making videos, and I’ve taken down my [Facebook] page, the Great Aussie Patriot.”
Burgess said he was not stepping down due to the media or “because of death threats from Islam, even though I’ve received many of those. It’s because of dumb fuck patriots out there”.
He said the video was made by a man who “goes to patriot rallies, but he’s really a lefty”.
The spoof video was posted on the Facebook page of someone calling themselves the Great Aussie Potato and pokes fun at the homemade videos Burgess uploads.
“G’day my fellow Australians, my name is Shermon Burgess AKA the Great Australian Patriot, filming live from my mum’s basement,” the presenter says in the clip.
“There are a lot of so-called patriots out there hanging shit on me, putting shit on me, teasing me, mocking me and I don’t know why. It’s not fair and I don’t like it. I am an Australian and I have feelings. I want you all to stop and if you don’t I’m telling me mum.”
The presenter then comes out of character to address the viewer directly, saying: “If any of you out there follow this Shermon, the tank, whatever his fucking name is, the great Australian fucking potato, you guys are idiots.”
Burgess said being a leader in the movement brought a lot of pressure from the police, from people trying to find out where he lives and from dealing with the media. “It’s like we’re at the rally continuously,” he said.
“This is what we’ve got to put up with. Now I don’t mind putting up with death threats from Muslims, I don’t mind [dealing with] media, but when your own fucking people start turning against you and having a laugh, and spreading left wing shit, after all the sacrifices you made for them, that’s where I draw the fucking line and I’m done. I’m fucking done.”
Burgess said he had lost his job due to his involvement in the UPF, which he was proud of building up from scratch.
Comments on his video paid tribute to Burgess’s leadership and the organisation he helped create. “It feels like Australia 50 years ago,” one said.
Another disillusioned fan lamented the “backstabbing” inside far-right circles: “This is why white ppl are the worst race on earth.”
