A self-described Nazi on Tuesday became the first person convicted in the Australian state of Victoria of performing an outlawed Nazi salute.
Jacob Hersant, 25, gave the salute and praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in front of news media cameras outside the Victoria County Court on Oct. 27, 2023, after he had appeared on a unrelated charge. It was six days after the Victoria state government had made the salute illegal.
The Federal Parliament passed legislation in December that outlawed nationwide performing the Nazi salute in public or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols.
A Melbourne magistrate found Hersant guilty, dismissing defense lawyers’ arguments that the gesture wasn’t a salute and that the ban unconstitutionally infringed upon Hersant’s implied freedom of political communication.
And a thousand free speech absolutists cried out ‘but now the Nazis won’t be publicly known!!!’
Nothing good has ever come from public gatherings of Nazis.
Yeah I don’t know what the right way to stop them is, but the Marketplace of Ideas sure as fuck isn’t preventing Nazi delusions from spreading and taking root. I think we are ready to try alternative solutions such as jail or punches in the face.