Victoria Police are seeking to charge notorious Australian neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant after about 30 masked men stormed Melbourne’s Flinders Street station.
Officers arrested the 24-year-old North Melbourne man at the scene on Saturday, where he was interviewed for “grossly offensive public conduct.”
Hersant, who in 2023 became the first Victorian charged with allegedly performing a Nazi salute in public following a crackdown on state laws, was released on bail and will appear in court at a later stage.
He is also expected to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court in September for the 2023 charges.
Eight other men were also interviewed by police for offensive behaviour in a public place and have also been released with the intention of facing court.
At around 4:10 p.m., about 30 people dressed in black stormed the main train station, where they began chanting offensive phrases and held up a banner reading: “Mass deportation now.”
The unplanned rally was organised by the National Socialist Network, considered the largest neo-Nazi and white supremacist group operating in Australia.
Victoria Police say the group quickly dispersed once police arrived at the scene, where officers confiscated their banner and a flag.
Australian neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant was arrested for “grossly offensive public conduct” in Melbourne on Saturday.
Hersant was part of an unplanned 30-man demonstration at Flinders Station in the CBD.
“Police will assess the circumstances surrounding the demonstration and review the police’s view of the incident and the people involved,” a spokesman said in a statement.
‘Anyone who witnessed the incident, with images or information, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online.’
In April, Hersant and fellow known neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell escaped appeal against their sentences for an attack on a group of hikers during a demonstration at Cathedral Ranges State Park on May 8, 2021.
At the time, County Court Judge Kellie Blair sentenced Sewell to 37 days in jail, but he was allowed to walk free after the court acknowledged he had already spent more than six months in solitary confinement on remand.
Hersant was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
Police also intervened with eight other men for offensive behaviour in a public place.
Hersant (right) became the first Victorian to be charged with allegedly performing a Nazi salute in public in 2023.
Judge Karen Emerton told the court that Judge Kellie Blair was entitled to consider the time Sewell spent on remand as sufficient punishment.
She said the panel found Hersant’s sentence was manifestly inadequate but dismissed the appeal at the court’s “residual discretion.”
“It would be counterproductive to return him to prison in circumstances where he is a young offender who has completed the 200 hours of work imposed by the community corrections order,” Judge Emerton said.
Hersant and Sewell were also involved in the much-maligned neo-Nazi Australia Day rally in Sydney this year, with police intercepting the group of about 70 masked men at North Sydney station.