NSW Police arrest two alleged extremists after swastikas painted at university

NSW Police have arrested a young man and woman for a sweep of alleged offences linked to right-wing extremist thinking.

The 19-year-old man and 20-year-old woman were taken into custody after police executed a search warrant at a home on Menzies Rd in Marsfield in Sydney’s northwest on Tuesday.

“During a search of the home, police seized numerous items related to extreme right-wing ideology which will be the subject of further investigation,” police said on Wednesday.

“The occupants, a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, were arrested.

“He was taken to Gladesville Police Station, while she was taken to Chatswood.”

The investigation and arrest kicked off on February 25, 2024 after five people allegedly defaced Macquarie University in northwest Sydney with “offensive symbology”, including swastikas, the mark of dictator Adolf Hitler’s Nazi terror regime.

“As part of the ongoing investigation, officers commenced inquiries into a second incident on May 21, 2024, where a 20-year-old man was approached by a man and woman at a bus stop on Herring Rd and allegedly intimidated,” police said.

“The man allegedly filmed the incident and uploaded the video to social media.”

Police have charged the man and woman with damaging property, face blackened or disguised with the intention to commit indictable offence, possess graffiti implement with intent to contravene section 4, and enter prescribed premises of any person without lawful excuse.

The man has also been also charged with an intimidation charge and entering enclosed land not prescribed premises without a lawful excuse.

They were both granted conditional bail.

The man will appear at Burwood Local Court on August 13, 2024, and the woman will appear at Hornsby Local Court on July 24, 2024.

Macquarie University assisted NSW Police with the investigation.

“Macquarie University does not tolerate discrimination, bullying or harassment on its campus, including hateful words or symbols regarding any person’s race, religion or ethnicity,” a Macquarie spokeswoman told NewsWire.

“The university’s security team works closely with law enforcement agencies to provide an inclusive and welcoming campus.”

The arrests follow a swell of extremist right-wing incidents that have rocked Australia in recent months, including open protests from Nazi groups.

State legislatures across the country have moved to tighten laws against the display of Nazi symbols and gestures, with Victoria, NSW and South Australia now instituting bans on hate symbols.

Professor Michele Grossman AM, testifying before a June senate hearing into right-wing extremism, warned social media and the internet were pushing more young Australians, including children, into anti-democratic zealotry.

“Their exposure levels have skyrocketed,” she said, warning easy access to radical images, chatrooms and websites left them more vulnerable to persuasion.

In its submission to the hearing, the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies warned social media could “fuel” curiosity about radical ideas.

“Various right-wing extremist organisations and movements, including neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists, make intensified use of digital environments to fuel curiosity about, interest in and exposure to radical ideology,” its submission states.

“Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram serve as ‘low-risk’ entry platforms for right-wing extremism in comparison to platforms such as 4chan, 8chan/Kun, Gab, Reddit and others, which can be seen as higher-risk channels in moving along the supply chain of toxic extremist exposure and immersion.”