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A man who threw his support behind neo-Nazis and spouted antisemitic remarks to an Australia Day rally crowd has been reprimanded and jailed for his offensive conduct.
Brandan Koschel attended the anti-immigration March for Australia protest alongside hundreds of others winding their way through Sydney’s city centre.
The 34-year-old took the stage at the end of the march and endorsed neo-Nazi views before being immediately arrested by police.
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On Wednesday, he was sentenced at Downing Centre local court to 12 months behind bars for intentionally inciting hatred.
The magistrate, Sharon Freund, criticised Koschel’s 40-second speech – in which he twice called Jews the “greatest enemy” – as clearly antisemitic and vilifying a vulnerable community.
The offensive, abhorrent language was then followed up by neo-Nazi symbolism, the magistrate said.
The 34-year-old finished his speech by “heiling” white Australia and Thomas Sewell, the leader of Australia’s most prominent neo-Nazi group, the now-disbanded National Socialist Network.
He also called for the release of the jailed neo-Nazi Joel Davis.
“He intended to incite hatred amongst the crowd he was addressing,” Freund said. “He intended to incite hatred against the Jewish community and Jews in general.”
The magistrate noted that the Jewish community was particularly vulnerable after a rise in antisemitic attacks that culminated in the Bondi beach massacre, in which 15 people lost their lives during a Hanukah celebration in December.
That mass shooting took place six weeks before Koschel took the stage, the magistrate noted.
The 34-year-old bowed his head and closed his eyes as he listened to Freund’s remarks from a cell at Shortland prison in the Hunter Valley.
The denunciation of these types of antisemitic remarks made in a public forum on such an iconic national holiday was essential, the magistrate added.
“A clear sentencing response is required to convey that the invocation or normalisation of hatred directed at the Jewish people … will not be tolerated,” she said.
Koschel had also shown no remorse, contrition or insight into his offending, the magistrate said. He was given a discount to his sentence due to his early guilty plea.
His non-parole period of nine months will expire on 25 October.
