A plan by fascist group Australia First to protest the arrest of Nikos Michaloliakos today was foiled by workers, anarchists and locals who turned out in numbers to make sure the group did not get any traction.
A handful of fascist supporters skulked away from the hundred or so anti-fascists and headed into the city where they planned to protest to Premier Newman. Again hugely out-numbered by twenty or so leftists for every fascist, they were shuffled into a taxi by police and told to leave.
Westender journalist Jimmy Wall and citizen journalists will be filing longer stories later.
UPDATE – 3rd May, 2014
It was wrongly reported in an earlier version of this article that the intention of the Australia First Part was to interrupt a funeral. This is incorrect. The protest was planned and the date set before the funeral was organised.
Ivan Anderson had reported to me that he was there and John Safron was there
I think the accuracy of “intent to disrupt a funeral” needs checking. The date set for this “confrontation” happened weeks ago. All the rest of the article is great and I thank everyone who turned up to make our opinion so clear.
Yes, I was there supporting the counter-protest, John Safran was interviewing the members of the AFP.
The Australian First Party, May 2nd protest had nothing to do with any funeral, the AFP was planning on rallying to protest the arrest of Nikos Michaloliakos & other members of Greece’s far-right political party Golden Dawn. The AFP planned to show solidarity to the Golden Dawn Party, which is a notorious Greek far-right group with connections to extreme violence towards immigrants & linked to other criminal activities.
Meanwhile the Australia First Party is a small collective of Nationalists & racists who have been supposedly tied to classic skinhead type street thugs, combat boot wearing wanna-be fascists. Now Nikos Michaloliakos is a history-revisionist & Holocaust denier, which is one of the reasons the Golden Dawn is so revered by other far-right groups around the world.
According to the AFP website, their plan for May 2nd was this:
“…….Australia First Party members and friends in Brisbane are standing beside supporters of Golden Dawn, calling for the Greek authorities to release party leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos and his colleagues. Despite disruption, our plan remains to picket of the offices of the Consul-General of Greece today.”
……little did they know, a counter-protest had also been planned by Antifa, the anarchist anti-fascist group, who were also supported by a large group of CFMEU unionists. All up the counter-protesters numbers were roughly two hundred, while the AFP had about five to ten supporters, hugely out numbered, Police had to protect the AFP members. The AFP protest seemed farcical & to make the events even stranger, documentary maker & broadcaster John Safran turned up to interview the AFP members; he also accompanied the AFP protesters for the rest of the day’s events.
For their own protection, the police whisked off the AFP protesters around the block, while a line of cops held the counter-protesters back. The AFP with police escort rounded the block then walked through Musgrave Park unhindered, till the counter-protesters caught up with them, forcing the police to hail taxis to ferry the AFP protesters straight to the Queen St offices of the Greek Consul. The counter protesters marched on foot, in numbers & quickly surrounded the AFP who were now on the steps of the consul, waving Australian flags, Eureka-stockade flags & more alarmingly, the Golden Dawn flag whose logo closely resembles a swastika. The counter protesters were now in a frenzy, chanting & yelling abuse, it was too much for the police to quell, so the cops demanded the AFP leave for the sake of their own safety, once again the AFP cut a hasty retreat via taxi, the counter protesters cheered, sending a clear message to the AFP of people’s unyielding opposition to their negative & nihilistic political stanch.
gotta love a rally that’s so small that a hasty get away can be achieved with a maxi-taxi!