“Mr Fogerty believed a person who had lost his job as a result of being uncovered by Fight Dem Back was behind the attack.”

HOT HOT HOT!
From the Nelson Mail.

NZer accused of crashing anti-racism site
07 September 2005

An Australian-based anti-racism group has had its internet website knocked out of action for more than a week after posting a picture of a former Motueka man.

Sydney activist Mat Henderson-Hau, the founder of Fight Dem Back, an organisation campaigning against racial hatred and claiming to have stopped two members of Germany’s far-right National Democratic Party entering Australia, said the site was attacked last Monday and taken offline.

“This would have been a worldwide effort with every neo-Nazi who can click a mouse taking part.”

The cyber assault “ate up $50,000 worth of band width” and Fight Dem Back was now operating from a temporary blog site.

Mr Henderson-Hau said his investigations indicated the attack originated in New Zealand.

Approached by the Nelson Mail, former Motueka man Alex Fogerty, a systems manager who now lives in Wellington, denied any involvement in the assault on the website, but said he knew how to carry out such an attack.

“I have a fair idea who did it and I’m not unhappy their website went down, but that does not mean I did it.”

Mr Fogerty confirmed he had sent a smug e-mail to the group hours after the website went down implying knowledge of the cyber assault.

The e-mail reads: “So Matthew, after your excellent report on me, why has your server been down for the past six hours? Hmmmmm”.

Mr Fogerty believed a person who had lost his job as a result of being uncovered by Fight Dem Back was behind the attack.

Mr Henderson-Hau said he knew that Mr Fogerty was a member of a computer chat group whose members exchanged candidly racist e-mails.

He said Fight Dem Back was concerned about the extreme nature of Mr Fogerty’s views, and had recently posted a picture of him and a selection of his messages on its website.

A posting from Mr Fogerty on the internet dated April this year, and which he has confirmed to the Nelson Mail that he wrote, reads: “I’d love to get rid of all Jews, blacks, gypsies, retards and social degenerates, I would love to have genetic cleansing.”

His message added that genetic cleansing did not mean killing anyone, just forcibly removing them from a country.

Mr Fogerty said he had made some comments on the internet he now regretted.

Fight Dem Back had taken these comments, including the one on genetic cleansing and another where he congratulated Australian groups for the increasing attacks on Jews, out of context, he said.

The comments were made in private and freedom of speech meant he could make them, he said.

He was not racist and had talked to “every ethnic group”, but did not agree with New Zealand’s immigration policy, and thought some of the Nazis’ ideas were good.

“If I was given some sort of power in politics, I would support the return of Kiwi culture. I think the destruction of it isn’t a good thing.”

He said he was the victim of a “terror campaign” from Fight Dem Back.

“I don’t pretend to understand their logic. They are extremists and very, very dangerous.”

Mr Henderson-Hau said Fight Dem Back had about 300 members and its website attracted 3000-4000 visits a day.