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Facebook racist gets the boot

Terrie-Ann Verney, an infamous Facebook bigot and community radio staffer who was also an administrator on the rabidly racist ‘Fuck Off We’re Full’ and ‘Australian Protectionist Party’ Facebook groups was given the heave-ho by 2MIA radio within 24 hours after 2MIA management were notified of Verney’s online activities.

Griffith Community FM Association President Edna Wakley comments on the 2MIA website:

The staff and Management of Griffith Community FM Association would like to reiterate their complete surprise and horror that an employee of the association has been involved in racial comments.

It is important that people understand the opinions of Ms Verney were never expressed on air at anytime and the newspaper article is dealing with comments made on a internet site, not her activities at Griffith Community FM Association.

Griffith Community FM Association would like to reiterate that prior to this article the station had not received any complaints in regards to Ms Verney’s on-air involvement, her program content or the execution of her duties as a staff member.

Griffith Community FM Association is heavily involved with Ethnic Broadcasting in the Griffith area and is a staunch supporter of multiculturalism. We are proud of our ethnic presenters, their programs and achievements.

It is disappointing that this staff member’s actions could place a cloud over the integrity of this Association and all that it has achieved in Ethnic Broadcasting, multiculturalism and the community at large.

Ms Verney is no longer involved with Griffith Community FM Association in any way.

Griffith Community FM Association is a not-for profit organisation that over time has developed a good reputation within the entire community of Griffith and surrounds and remains committed to providing broadcasting services for and on behalf of that community.

Edna Wakley
President
Griffith Community FM Association

Racism is unacceptable civic conduct under any circumstances but it is especially so in cases where one has access to a community radio station, which is chartered by the Broadcast Services Act to serve the diverse needs of local communities.

2MIA management are to be commended for their rapid and decisive action on this matter.

Fight dem back · 5 July 2009 · Discussion

Facebook racist is multicultural community radio staffer

We here at FDB never fail to be amazed at the sheer dumbness of racists. This particular one tried to lever her positions as a presenter and sales representative at a rural NSW community radio station to impress her racist mates by putting the in-studio photo as shown below on her Facebook profile page.

Community radio stations have a mission, well defined in the Broadcasting Services Act, to serve the diverse needs of their local communities. 2MIA FM has a strong commitment to multiculturalism and devotes several hours per week to ethnic programming, presented by volunteers from various migrant communities in and around Griffith, NSW. 2MIA management were as shocked as we were to find that one of their staffers was an administrator on the ‘Fuck Off We’re Full’ and ‘Australian Protectionist Party’ Facebook groups.

Soon after Asher Moses began developing this story, Ms Verney set about deleting as much of her racist tripe as she could from Facebook. She very quickly withdrew from her Administrator positions on ‘FOWF’ and ‘APP’. Verney was definitely proud to be a racist bogan on the world-readable Facebook- why is she running scared when the equally world-readable Sydney Morning Herald comes-a-callin’?

Racism is an unacceptable civic behavior under any circumstances but it is particularly so when one has been entrusted with access to public assets like community FM radio broadcasting.

Ms Verney attempts to excuse her racism by claiming she’s a ‘patriot’. Verney’s entitled to her own opinions but she’s not entitled to her own facts nor dictionary definitions. Verney doesn’t like non-whites and Muslims- she’s a racist and a bigot. Verney expresses her small-minded beliefs on those issues in the public sphere. That makes her a racist activist. If Ms Verney happens to be a patriot, she can be that simultaneously, but being a patriot does not preclude nor excuse one from being a racist.

We hope that the Griffith Community FM Association gives very close consideration as to whether or not Terrie-Anne Verney possesses the good character required by ACMA for a person to be entrusted with access to a community broadcasting facility. We at FDB do not believe she does nor will in the foreseeable future.

nb: Many thanks to the dedicated denizens of the Australians Against Racial Discrimination (AARD) Facebook group for their assistance and support in researching this story.

From the SMH:

Multicultural radio presenter linked to anti-immigration Facebook groups

Asher Moses
July 2, 2009 - 2:02PM

Terrie-Anne Verney

A presenter for a NSW community radio station that specialises in multicultural programming has been reprimanded after she was revealed to be an administrator of several racist, anti-immigration groups on Facebook.

Terrie-Anne Verney, a presenter and sales representative for Griffith FM radio station 2MIA, was the administrator of the group “F— Off, We’re Full” and had also joined several Facebook groups including “Stop the Islamisation of Australia while we still can”, “Australian Conservative United Party”, the “Australian Protectionist Party” and “Australians against Multiculturalism”.

In posts on the site she ridiculed foreigners who did not have a good grasp of English, claimed the Islamic faith was destroying the Australian way of life and said that attacked Indian students should go back home to study.

Read the rest of this entry… »

She also wrote that groups of immigrants tended to develop a “mob mentality”, claimed KKK members she knew were “intelligent” and that she did not want immigrants who did not speak English or assimilate into “the Australian life” to be allowed into the country.

“If we allow the Islamic faith to continue to grow, sooner or later the Australian way of life will be destroyed,” Ms Verney wrote in one post.

“I can’t even imagine where we start to fix the problems caused by the introduction of this *cough cough* religion and its invasion of our society, but something needs to be done. Before its (sic) too late.”

Of bashed Indian students, she said they were “playing the victim card” and “the shit around their head must do something to their brain”.

“Maybe a gun to their head might help them get the hint that they are not wanted here!!,” she wrote.

Edna Wakley, president of the Griffith Community FM Association and station manager at 2MIA, said in a statement that she was “horrified” by Ms Verney’s affiliations, and that she was unaware of until yesterday.

She said the station did “not condone in any way sites such as these” and would “take appropriate disciplinary action where necessary”.

2MIA prides itself on “multicultural programming” and has several presenters from diverse backgrounds. Ms Verney works there as a sales representative and also presents a music show on Saturday afternoons.

“It is disappointing that this staff member’s actions could place a cloud over the integrity of this Association and all that it has achieved in Ethnic Broadcasting, multiculturalism and the community at large,” the statement said.

When Ms Verney was approached for comment over her Facebook posts, she said it was “unfortunate” patriotism was now regarded as racism.

“As a proud Aussie, I welcome new Australians in the hope and belief that they too, become proud Aussies,” she said.

“This country is beautiful the way it is, and like most average citizens, [I] do not want our society to change to suit others’ needs.”

But after this website approached 2MIA for a comment yesterday, Ms Verney began removing some of her Facebook group affiliations and posts.

In April, a contractor for one of Australia’s largest Defence Department-linked companies was suspended after she was alleged to have been involved as an administrator of the neo-Nazi web forum Blood & Honour.

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News brief · 2 July 2009

Muslim school okayed in Liverpool

We’re betting a Catholic school would never have faced the same objections nor would have generated any threats of violence against councillors.

From the ABC:

Public wars with council over new Islamic school

By George Roberts for AM

Sydney’s south-west is once again the battleground over plans to build a new Islamic school.

Last night, the Liverpool Council approved the school, despite some councillors’ attempts to send the project back to the drawing board.

The decision comes less than a month after the Land and Environment Court rejected plans to build an Islamic school further west, in Camden.

There are about 30 Islamic schools in Australia, with about half of those in New South Wales.

Eager to hear whether Hoxton Park would have a new school, locals packed the Council Chamber and spilled out into the lobby.

This time allegations of racism and threats against council members have marred celebrations over the approval of the school.

Read the rest of this entry… »

The Malek Fahd Islamic school already has one campus in Greenacre and wants to build another further west.

Two weeks ago, the Liverpool Council approved the school, but three councillors moved a motion to send it to another vote.

Last night, that motion was defeated 6-4, allowing the school to go ahead.

Outside the chamber, the debate was far from over.

“It’s devastating. They just haven’t any regard for the concerns of people in the area,” one man said.

“To me it sounds like the council aren’t hearing the residents of Hoxton Park,” one woman said.

“We feel neglected by our council. Our council has let us down on numerous occasions and this is just another occasion,” another man said.

While speaking in favour of the school, Councillor Mazhav Hadid became angry, claiming there had been threats made against fellow councillors over the vote.

Later he told AM that police were investigating the threats.

Debate continues

But not everyone is upset, including the principal of the new school, Dr Intaj Ali.

“We are very pleased with the decision. I’m very pleased that the councillors made the decision based on purely planning grounds,” he said.

“We will do our best to work with the residents and the council, of course.”

Some locals say there are already three schools in the area and too much traffic.

“We are already overloaded. We don’t need another 800 kids, which is going to put 500 cars on the road,” one man said.

“We would have to move. I could not see myself living there with that kind of traffic going in front of my house,” a woman said.

Geoff Newcombe from the New South Wales Independent Schools Association says that is just an excuse for prejudice.

“Schools, be they government, Catholic or independent schools, have the right to establish in any area as long as they comply with planning conditions and this school clearly has,” he said.

“I think it shows that our democracy is working and that we’re not responding to emotional or racial pressures.”

But some local residents reject accusations that they are racist.

“Having the school would not bother me, but where they’re putting it; that’s what concerns me,” one woman said.

Those opposed to the school are vowing to take the matter further. Their only option may be court action.

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News brief · 30 June 2009

Partytrick O’Sullivan wears out a keyboard bashing Indians

From News.com.au:

‘Disgusting’ website urged offensive against Indians

By Mark Schliebs

NEWS.com.au

June 04, 2009 07:26am

AN Australian website urging a “hate offensive” against Indians was condemned as “disgusting”, while fears grow that racial tensions will escalate.

For the past six months, Melbourne man Patrick O’Sullivan has posted comments onto a white supremacy forum about how “evil” Indians were and urged others to participate in a “Summer hate offensive” in the Victorian city.

In a post just before Christmas, he asked for people to call him if they wanted to participate.

“For those of you in or nearby Melbourne, contact me. This summer a lot of Race Hate is occurring! RAHOWA!”

RAHOWA is understood to stand for Racial Holy War.

Read the rest of this entry… »

Senior police and Indian students deplored the web comments but police said they doubted they had caused a spate of assaults on Indian students, despite members of the forum pledging to join in the “offensive”.

Mr O’Sullivan, who was jailed in 2002 for stabbing a man who accused him of not being a Nazi due to his Irish blood, told news.com.au that the posts were not intended to incite violence and that he was now a peaceful man.

He said his rallying call for a “Summer hate offensive” was a peaceful way to recruit people into the Creativity Movement, whose website describes itself as a “Progressive Pro-White Religion”.

In late November, Mr O’Sullivan posted a comment – using the name “RAWHOWA NOW” - on a neo-Nazi forum which said he was sick of “Dirty F**king Indians”.

“They infest the Melbourne area. I could write all day (about) how evil and putrid those scum are… one particularly infuriating thing about these curry n*ggers is their arrogance,” he said.

“I think this may seem (to have originated) from the apathy of Whites not putting tem (sic) in their place. Those browm (sic) maggots used to get spat on, tolchocked and on occasion even stabbed and/or hospitalised.

“I’m not saying to commit illegal acts, violence etc. This is merely and observation of mine.”

Amit Menghani, president of the Federation of Indian Students in Australia, said he thinks the comments were promoting “curry-bashing”.

The term “curry-bashing” is used to describe the hunting down of Indians and beating them.

“This kind of provocation must stop,” Mr Menghani said.

“It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Victorian Police commander Trevor Carter, whose beat covers Melbourne’s west, said that although the comments were “appalling”, the attacks on students were not believed to be racially motivated.

“There is an element of (racism), but the purpose is to steal property from people,” Mr Carter said.

Meanwhile The Australian reports that Indians in Australia are concerned an increasingly “hysterical” reaction in India and among local protestors to assaults and robberies on foreign students could create a backlash against their community.

Raj Natarajan, the outgoing president of the United Indian Associations of New South Wales, said his organisation was concerned about the “flow-on effect” for Australians of Indian background.

“I am proud to look like an Indian,” he said.

“I don’t want to look any other way. But I and my family are Australian citizens, and we are also proud of Australian society. It is tolerant, multicultural and friendly.

“These attacks are a worrying trend, but I don’t believe they are racially motivated.

“Indian kids who live here are not complaining. They’re perfectly happy. They have lots of friends in the broader Australian community, and many are married to Aussies.”

On Sunday, Indian students blocked city streets in protest of a wave of up to 70 violent attacks against them in the past year but the protest itself turned into clashes with police.

Mr Natarajan sought to distance the broader Indian community from the rally, saying it was organised by visiting foreign students.

“It might have an impact on us by creating a backlash,” he said.

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News brief · 4 June 2009

‘Curry bashing’ in Melbourne & Sydney

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Indian student bashings on the rise in Sydney: community leader

* Arjun Ramachandran
* May 29, 2009 - 5:29PM

Violent attacks on Indian students are on the rise in Sydney, and have forced the Indian Government to take steps to assure the safety of Indian students in Australia, a community leader says.

Dr Yadu Singh said there had been at least 20 bashings of Indian students in Sydney in the past month, but most went unreported out of fear. He estimated over 100 attacks on Indian students in the last 12 months.

Sujatha Singh, India’s High Commissioner to Australia, says there are elements in society that attack people for racist motives.

The revelations follow a strong response by the Indian Government to an apparently racially motivated attack on four Indian students in Melbourne, which left one man fighting for his life in hospital.

Read the rest of this entry… »

Under instructions from the Indian Government, the Indian Consulate in Sydney has formed a committee to address the concerns about the welfare of Indian students in Australia, said Dr Singh, who heads the committee.”Melbourne has a bigger problem but if we don’t do something in Sydney it will be repeated here,” said Dr Singh, a cardiologist.

He said he was aware of numerous robbings and random bashings on Indian students at night and in daylight, on trains and near their homes, often in western Sydney.

He also referred to an incident on Sunday evening, in which hospitality graduate Rajesh Kumar received burns to 30 per cent of his body after a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of the Harris Park home he shared with other Indians.

Dr Singh said the attacks had been happening for about four years, and were a mixture of opportunistic robberies and outright racist attacks.

“There’s a name for [the racist attacks]: ‘curry bashing’ … [as in] ‘lets go curry bashing’,” he said.

“They are not random at all, the people are targeting them. They know these students are easy targets.”

Two 18-year-olds faced a Victorian court late last year after a man was killed in such an attack. The court heard seven friends had met at a Footscray McDonald’s store on January 22 and decided to go out “curry bashing”, which meant assaulting and robbing an Indian.

In the robbery cases, Indian students often became victims because they traveled home late at night, alone, after working to support their studies, Dr Singh said.

Thieves also knew they were unlikely to report incidents to police, he said.

“They are not reporting to police because their experience of police in India is pathetic - they are corrupt, pathetic, not helpful.”

Many students were also afraid that lodging any sort of formal police report would harm their chances at permanent residency.

“So they will suffer the humiliation and the insult … and the criminals think: ‘We are pretty safe robbing them and nothing will happen’.”

Dr Singh did not give much credence to the idea, reported on some Indian websites, that the students were attacked out of jealousy at their academic ability.

“These criminals are not competitors of Indian students. They are no-hopers who have nothing else to do but robbing and committing crimes.”

Dr Singh called for a more intensive undercover police effort to capture offenders. He said there also needed to be more education for Indian students on “street smarts”.

“They don’t walk with the confidence we do. You have to merge with the general persona of Australian confidence, you should have a spring of confidence in your step.”

Reports of attacks on Indians received wide coverage in Indian press, including on popular satellite news programs such as NDTV, Dr Singh said.

Unless authorities acted to reduce attacks, the multi-billion dollar education industry was at stake, he said.

“It’s making a big impression in India. When I went to India in December people [who were considering studying in Australia] asked me: ‘We are not sure … what’s going on there, are you safe? They were asking about me!”‘.

UNSW international students officer Sakshi Sehgal said there were increased concerns about the safety of international students from all countries, not just India.

Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard this week announced there would be a “roundtable” in which international students could voice their complaints.

“I am aware of and am concerned about the reports in the media of international students safety being compromised and of their having unsatisfactory experiences while in Australia,” Ms Gillard said. A recent violent attack on an Indian student occurred in her electorate of Lalor.

Charges were this week were also laid against six youths, aged 12 to 16, involved in what police said were unprovoked attacks on foreign students at Newcastle University.

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News brief · 29 May 2009

Rhythm needs your help

Rhythm Turner is a lesbian musician from San Diego, in the United States.

After a gig in Mission Beach on May 14th, Rhythm fell victim to a brutal attack by a man whose motivations were based in homophobia, leaving Rhythm with two very serious facial fractures and an inability to perform musically. The attacker was arrested for felony assault, but is not currently being charged with a hate crime.
Rhythm needs reconstructive surgery to fix her fractures, but as a full-time student and musician she has no health insurance.

If you’d like to help with these costs, please consider a contribution via this paypal link.

And you can listen to her band, Rhythm and the Method here.

http://www.myspace.com/rhythmandthemethod

From everyone at FightDemBack, we wish Rhythm a speedy recovery, and we ask anyone who can to help donate to get her face fixed. The United States, for all its wealth, has a health care system that does not provide adequate health coverage for people on low incomes without health insurance, so Rhythm needs all the help she can get, because as a professional performer a broken face can mean the difference between a gig and going hungry.

Fight dem back · 27 May 2009 · Discussion

Perth man charged over YouTube ‘race-hate’ video

From NEWS.COM.AU

Paul Lampathakis and Nicole Cox

A RACIST video posted on US-based internet site YouTube is yet to be removed, despite a Perth man being charged for allegedly uploading the anti-Semitic film.

Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan today said his officers had so far been unsuccessful in their negotiations with YouTube to have the controversial video pulled from the site, but inquiries were continuing.

Maylands man Brendon O’Connell, 38, was yesterday charged under racial vilification laws for allegedly posting anti-Semitic video on the internet site.

Mr O’Connell is seen on film in front of Perth’s Bell Tower and at a South Perth supermarket while allegedly making anti-Semitic comments.

He was yesterday charged by the police State Security Investigation Group with conduct with intent to incite racial animosity or racist harassment.

The maximum penalty for the offence is 14 years’ jail, or fines of up to $24,000.

“Our officers have been dealing with youtube,” Mr O’Callaghan told reporters this morning.

“They are a US based company. We don’t have any jurisdiction over them, but we have been working with them to pull the video down and they have been fairly co-operative in the past.

“Now I can’t forecast what the outcome will be here, but we are continuing to work with youtube on the issue.”

Opposition Multicultural Interests spokesman John Hyde - who alerted police, Jewish community leaders and the Ethnic Communities Council of WA about the videos - praised WA Police for using the anti-vilification laws to lay the charges.

“Members of the multicultural community can take comfort in the knowledge that this alleged race hate crime will now go before the courts,” Mr Hyde said.

It is believed to be the second time a person has been charged under the racial vilification laws, which were introduced by the previous Labor government and were designed to outlaw the publication, distribution or display in oral, written or pictorial form of material that was threatening or abusive and intended to cause hatred or contempt or ridicule.

Update

Friends of Palestine note in a press release that the individual in question was never a member of their organisation and had crashed their protest, presumably for his own ends. FightDemBack! would like to remind commentators that the Friends of Palestine are an innocent party to this incident and have publically condemned Anti-Semitism as unwelcome to their cause.

News brief · 14 May 2009

Toben jailed 90 days for contempt

From The Advertiser

Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben jailed
By Sean Fewster

May 13, 2009

“REVISIONIST historian” Fredrick Toben has been given a three-month jail term for contempt of court - but has also won a 14-day reprieve to file appeal papers.

On his way into the Federal Court this morning, the controversial website operator vowed he was ready to be jailed, without regret, for expressing his beliefs about the Holocaust and Jewish people.

“I’ve mentally prepared myself to go inside for a few weeks or months,” he told AdelaideNow.

“Anyone who expresses an opinion should not be silenced because someone else is offended, but my opinions have been criminalised.”

In his judgment, Justice Bruce Lander said Toben breached Federal Court orders to stop implying Jewish people offended by Holocaust denial were of “limited intelligence”.

Justice Lander imposed the jail term, and ordered he pay costs, for 24 counts of contempt of court.

Read the rest of this entry… »

News brief · 13 May 2009

Stormfront’s Don Black banned from Britain

All we can say is ‘what took ya so long?’

From the Telegraph (UK):

Extremists banned from Britain named by Home Office

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent

A total of 101 individuals - including dozens of radical Muslim clerics, such as Omar Bakri - have been excluded in the past four years, using new powers introduced after the July 7 bombings in 2005.

Two thirds of them have been banned for “fomenting, justifying or glorifying terrorist violence” and provoking others to carry out terrorist atrocities.

The 16 named today, who have been excluded in the past six months, include six militant Muslims, four men who front Neo-Nazi groups, a Sri-Lankan Tamil Tiger leader, a former member of the Palestine Liberation Front and a right-wing American radio chat show host. Six others banned since October are not named because it is not considered “in the public interest”.

Read the rest of this entry… »

After years of criticism, the tougher exclusions policy is an attempt to take “stronger action against those we suspect of stirring up tensions”, the Home Office said. More than five “promoters of hate” are being excluded a month.

However while the strict measures ban extremists from entering Britain, questions are being asked about the continued “threat from within”.

Jacqui Smith has faced repeated calls to ban the Hizb ut-Tahrir group, and the successor organisation of al-Muhajiroun, both of which Tony Blair promised to proscribe in 2005.

They insist they are non-violent, however the organisations, which have thrived on university campuses, are accused of providing a gateway to more extremist groups - a claim they deny.

Two months ago The Daily Telegraph disclosed that the Home Office had also failed to shut down a single terrorist website, despite a similar pledge by the former Prime Minister four years ago.

The individuals concerned include animal rights extremists, right to life extremists, homophobe extremists, far right extremists, as well as advocates of hatred and violence in support of their religious beliefs.

Those banned on grounds of their “unacceptable behaviour” include preachers Abdullah Qadri Al Ahdal, Wadgy Mohamed Ghoneim and Yunis Al Astal. All of them are considered to “foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence”.

Also excluded is Michael Savage, a right-wing American talk radio host with eight million listeners a week, who describes his own style as “explosive” and liberalism as a “mental disorder”.

He once asked whether President Barack “Madrasah” Obama was a “so-called friendly Muslim” or one more “radical”.

The Home Office said that Mr Savage was “considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence”.

Miss Smith, Home Secretary, said: “Coming to the UK is a privilege and I refuse to extend that privilege to individuals who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life. Therefore, I will not hesitate to name and shame those who foster extremist views as I want them to know that they are not welcome here.

“The Government opposes extremism in all its forms and I am determined to stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country. This is the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behaviour”.

Also from the Telegraph (UK):

16 extremists banned from Britain

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent

Abdullah Qadri Al Ahdal - Muslim extremist preacher

Yunis Al Astal - Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament

Stephen Black - founder of neo-Nazi website Stormfront

Wadgy Mohamed Ghoneim - Muslim preacher

Eric Gliebe - American neo-Nazi web-radio broadcaster

Mike Guzovsky - leader of fundamentalist Kahane faction in Israel

Safwat Hijazi - Muslim extremist preacher who broadcasts on Egyptian television.

Nasr Javed - trainer of Tamil Tiger suicide bombers

Abdul Ali Musa - American Muslim activist

Fred Waldron Phelps Snr and Shirley Phelps-Roper - leaders of far-right Westboro Baptist Church in America.

Samir Al Quntar - Lebanese militant and a former member of the Palestine Liberation Front

Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky - Russian student members of far-right gang

Amir Siddique - Muslim extremist preacher

Michael Savage - right-wing radio host in America.

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News brief · 6 May 2009

Top NZ nazi chucks it for the love of a good woman

*SOB* Weddings always make us teary!

From the Waikato Times:

National Front’s ex-leader marries Mormon

The face of the white supremacy movement in New Zealand is walking away from rightwing groups and moving from Christchurch to marry a devout Christian woman in Hamilton.

Kyle Chapman, the former leader of the National Front, married Claire Clifford at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Tuhikaramea Rd, last night. The couple only saw each other in person for the first time in 3 1/2 years yesterday morning.

The couple will live on her lifestyle block on the outskirts of Hamilton, with Mr Chapman, who said he was an unwilling poster boy for right-wing extremism, committing to her Mormon faith.

The pair met in Christchurch nearly four years ago when Ms Clifford was on her Mormon mission. They lost contact over the past three years and met again on the social networking website Facebook a month ago. They spent 80 hours on the phone in two weeks, decided to marry and Mr Chapman flew into the city yesterday morning.

“I’m here because I want to have a nice peaceful life with Claire. She is an example of a righteous woman,” Mr Chapman said before the ceremony.

He was quitting his roles with the Nationalist Alliance and The Survive Club, and hoped the people of the Waikato would give him a chance.

But he’s not banking on it. He has fears for his and Claire’s safety and still holds some of the beliefs that made him a reviled figure. “A lot of people still have aggressive ideals towards me,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry… »

It’s little wonder. The 38-year-old father of five, to four different women including one ex-wife, is a former skinhead who was addicted to alcohol and drugs.

In his younger days in Invercargill he admitted to a series of arsons between 1987 and 1992, including fire-bombing a marae.

His time in the National Front gained him plenty of media coverage and notoriety, the most memorable incident a clash on the streets of Wellington where 50 of his supporters, many skinheads, got into a bloody battle with 800 marchers from the Multicultural Aotearoa rally.

He resigned as leader of the National Front in 2005, citing pressure on his children, who were being shunned at school. But he continued to lead far-right groups.

Only in January this year he revealed plans for a commune-style mini-state in North Canterbury for “like-minded Europeans” to have training areas for sport fighting, a protected community and gatherings for active nationalists.

Mr Chapman yesterday said that was likely to go ahead when enough money had been saved, but it would do so without him.

He wanted to focus on his marriage. “I intend to live a calm lifestyle; I can’t do that as the leader of anything.

“I’m about to move my whole life here. I’m about to walk away from a two-year contract in the middle of a recession. This is all based on faith.”

He had quit his job as a storeman at an electrical company in Christchurch and would look for work in Hamilton.

“I’ve found that the lifestyle many people live in the extreme right-wing movement is not what I want to live.”

He had made bids for Parliament and the Christchurch mayoralty, but said he had no Waikato political aspirations.

Mr Chapman, who has not drunk alcohol since he was 21, hoped his former supporters would understand.

“I’m the example of the Mormon who believes in the church but has been swayed away and has made mistakes.”

Some people would see him as a sellout. “Most of them will be happy for me though they’ll be bummed out I’m not with them. I love those guys, they are my brothers. This is no easy thing.”

Mr Chapman said his mother was a Mormon and he had gone back to religion before meeting Ms Clifford, 31, a private health worker.

Ms Clifford said church leaders were happy with her choice of husband. “They trust me, they’re really happy for me. We’ve (Kyle and her) prayed about it and it feels totally right.”

They were planning a family and intended serving a Mormon mission together.

Though Mr Chapman repeatedly said he had moderated and that extreme National Front policies like repatriation of Asians and Polynesians were the group’s, not his, he still had strong views.

”I still have concerns that all white people don’t have the same rights as some other people. But that’s irrelevant if we’re not finding a way of getting back to God.”

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News brief · 3 May 2009

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