Neil Erikson is an Australian far-right extremist and self-proclaimed

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...

. Erikson gained attention after posting a video of himself verbally abusing

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

-born former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

senator

Sam Dastyari Sam Dastyari ( fa, سام دستیاری; born Sahand Dastyari, ; born 28 July 1983) is a former Australian politician, who from 2013 to 2018 represented New South Wales in the Australian Senate as a member of the Australian Labor Party. Dastya ...

in a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

bar. During the verbal attack, Erikson called Dastyari a "terrorist" and a "little monkey" and told him to "go back home". Erikson espouses the

antisemitic canard Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are "Sensationalism, sensational reports, misrepresentations, or Fabrication (lie), fabrications" that are Defamation, defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an Ethnic group, ...

and

Jewish conspiracy theory Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

cultural Marxism The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...

. Erikson is one of the founders or leaders of the far-right neo-Nazi

United Patriots Front The United Patriots Front (UPF) was an Australian far-right extremist group that opposed immigration, multiculturalism and the religion of Islam. Formed in 2015, the group has been largely dormant since their Facebook page was deleted follow ...

and the

Lads Society The Lads Society is a far-right white nationalist extremist group founded by several former members of the United Patriots Front (UPF) in late 2017, with club houses in Sydney and Melbourne. The Lads Society came to national prominence after it ...

. He has been charged and convicted of multiple offences including assault, inciting contempt against Muslims, stalking, affray and riotous behaviour, making threats to prevent a clergyman discharging duties, and disturbing religious worship.

Activities

Stalking

In 2014, Erikson was convicted of stalking. Charges were laid after Erikson called

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Dovid Gutnick, threatening and insulting him. He spoke of

circumcisions Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topi ...

blood money Blood money may refer to: * Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim Films * ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey * ''Blood Money'' (1921 film), a British-Dutch film * ''Blood Money'' (1933 ...

and Jewish sidelocks, and told Gutnick he knew his location and was coming to get him unless he paid.

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Donna Bakos said Erikson's calls were motivated by prejudice and found he had little remorse for his crime.

Islamophobia

In September 2017, Erikson (by then a member of the Cooks Convicts and UPF members Chris Shortis and

Blair Cottrell Blair Cottrell (born November 1989) is an Australian far-right extremist, often described as a neo-Nazi. He is the former chairman and founding member of the United Patriots Front (UPF) and the Lads Society. He has been convicted of several ...

were found guilty of inciting contempt against Muslims after they made a video of a fake

beheading Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

while protesting the building of a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...

Threatening clergyman

In 2018, Erikson was charged with making threats to prevent a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

discharging duties and disturbing religious worship, after he interrupted a church service at the Gosford Anglican Church by marching into the church dressed as

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, holding a whip. , Erikson had outstanding warrants and was wanted by

NSW Police The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands ...

regarding an outstanding non-custodial

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a ...

related to the offence.

White genocide conspiracy theory

In 2018, Erikson attended a rally in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

run by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MPs

Andrew Hastie Andrew William Hastie (born 30 September 1982) is an Australian politician and former military officer currently serving as the shadow minister for defence. He previously served as the Assistant Minister for Defence from 2020 to 2022 under Mi ...

and

Ian Goodenough Ian Reginald Goodenough (born 3 July 1975) is a Singaporean-born Australian politician who is the current Liberal Party member for the Division of Moore in the House of Representatives, located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australi ...

in support of White South African farmers wanting to immigrate owing to

South African farm attacks South African farm attacks ( af, plaasaanvalle) are violent crimes, including murder, assault and robbery, that take place on farms in South Africa. The attacks target farmers, who are usually white, and farm workers, who are usually black. Black ...

, a cause drumming up sympathy on the far-right, based partly on the

White genocide conspiracy theory The white genocide, white extinction, or white replacement conspiracy theory is a White supremacy, white supremacist conspiracy theory which states that there is a deliberate plot, often Antisemitic canard, blamed on Jews, to promote miscegenat ...

Attending LNP event

Also in 2018, Erikson attended a Gold Coast "recruitment event" for the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

, for which he claims his flights were paid by someone else.

Fraser Anning

In 2019, Erikson was involved in an altercation between

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Senator

Fraser Anning William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been criticis ...

and a 17-year-old boy. Erikson was recorded restraining the 17-year-old after the boy crushed an egg on the back of Anning's head while he was speaking at a political meeting in the Melbourne suburb of

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of th ...

. The teenager egged Anning in response to comments made by the senator about the

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosq ...

in New Zealand, claiming that Muslim immigration had led to the attacks. Erikson and a number of other UPF members tackled the boy to the ground, putting him in a headlock and repeatedly kicking and punching him.

Further convictions and jail

On 11 May 2021, Erikson was sentenced to one month jail at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, after refusing a community correction order and de-radicalisation program. Erikson lodged an appeal against the sentence in the County Court, which is scheduled for August 2021. On 30 July 2021, Erikson was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to 10 weeks jail for hurling homophobic abuse in a church in Hawthorn in May 2019. He was granted bail.