“We look forward to a safe and impactful event,” he wrote.
But the polite, deferential tone adopted in the letter was a far cry from Eltis’ public record of hateful rhetoric and the tenor of the rally itself, which “criticised Jews’ position at the head of [the] table”, promoted a highly offensive conspiracy theory and contained Hitler Youth chants, including “blood and honour”, which is banned under German law because of its connection to the Nazi party.
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Lanyon was not made aware of the protest until after the Herald sent questions to NSW Police about the demonstration. He told a press conference on Saturday afternoon that, as a result of the “communication error”, he had not briefed Premier Chris Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley.
The rally had not been opposed by the Sydney City local area command, which had sought legal advice on the proposed “Abolish the Jewish lobby” banner, and Minns has suggested the government may seek to pass new laws.
According to the legal advice given to police, the wording used on the banner did not constitute an offence, and there were no legal grounds upon which to oppose the demonstration.
“What I’m disappointed about is one [protest] that was going to have so much obvious attention, is one that I would have expected to know about,” Lanyon told Sky News’ Sharri Markson on Monday night.
Legal advice was available to police attending Saturday’s rally to determine if any offences were being committed, but advisors did not attend the rally in person, Lanyon said, adding that current legislation had a “high legal test”.
“This is not what we all want to see on the streets of NSW, but as police we need to work within the legislation that actually exists,” he said.
Eltis’ unabashed racism was on display in the Sydney March for Australia rally in August, which this masthead revealed was infiltrated and organised by NSN members.
Sydney members took to the stage for an “open mic” section of the protest held at Victoria Park in Camperdown, where they led chants of “heil Australia” and “blood and honour”, the same Hitler Youth slogan used on Saturday.
“Proud to be racist”: Jack Eltis being interviewed by a reporter after the March for Australia rally.Credit: Nine News
“This land was built by white Australians,” Eltis told the crowd.
“You don’t have to join our organisation, but we must come back more organised, more disciplined. We have the solutions. We want to send them back. No debate. No discussion. We want to send them back to their land. This is our land. And most importantly, our organisation has the strength to do this.”
After his speech, Eltis told a reporter, “All the men in our organisation are proud to be racist.” Asked if he and other NSN and White Australia members were neo-Nazis, Eltis said, “Yes, we are national socialists.”
After March for Australia, Minns said police would examine the speeches for possible violations of new laws against the public incitement of racial hatred, which came into effect mid-August.
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In a statement, NSW Police said Eltis was known to authorities, and was spoken to by officers at Saturday’s rally.
Police are reviewing Saturday’s rally for possible violations of the same laws. Police said no offences were identified by the officers in attendance on Saturday.
In September, Eltis used a public social media account to blame social problems on “Jewish power and Jewish brainwashing of our people”. In more recent messages, he attributed the NSN’s successes to “a culture of fanaticism” and stressed an absolute commitment to deporting “every last non-white” from Australia.
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