Canberra man pleads guilty to performing Nazi salutes in public

A 19-year-old Canberra man has pleaded guilty to performing Nazi salutes in public and placing white supremacist stickers on signs at the Australian National University (ANU). Zachery James Hook admitted to the offenses, which occurred between October and December last year.

The court documents reveal that Hook targeted signs for the Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre and the university's Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) department. He placed stickers bearing slogans such as "National Socialist Network" and "Australia for the white man" over signs promoting multiculturalism and the experiences of First Peoples. The National Socialist Network is a neo-Nazi group recently banned under Australia's hate speech laws.

Hook also admitted to performing Nazi salutes on two separate occasions. In one instance, after confronting a woman about removing his posters, he performed the salute and used an anti-Semitic slogan. On another occasion, he approached an ACT politician at a shopping center, engaged her in a conversation about multiculturalism, and then performed the salute and used an offensive slogan.

The prosecution highlighted that Hook's actions involved "the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or racial hatred." The Nazi salute offense carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail, with a mandatory minimum of 12 months. Hook is scheduled for sentencing later this year.

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It's not scary, it's just people loving their own kind