Blair Cottrell

Blair Cottrell (born 1989) is an Australian far-right activist, often described as neo-Nazi. He is the former chairman and founding member of the United Patriots Front (UPF) and the Lads Society. He has been convicted of several charges, including stalking, arson, drug dealing and burglary, and has spent time in prison.

Blair Cottrell
Chairman of United Patriots Front
Assumed office
October 2015
Preceded byShermon Burgess
Personal details
Born1989 (age 31–32)
NationalityAustralian
Other political
affiliations
Known forFounding United Patriots Front, far-right activism, neo-Nazism
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Political leaning

Cottrell has right-wing extremist views, he has been described by numerous media outlets and Australia's former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, as a neo-Nazi. He has been convicted of charges of inciting hatred against communities.[1][2][3]

Cottrell has stated a desire to see a portrait of Adolf Hitler hung in Australian classrooms and for copies of Mein Kampf to be "issued annually" to students as well as anti-Semitic and racist comments in support of Nazism. Cottrell has denied supporting Nazism.[4][5]

Political/anti-social activities

In October 2015, Blair Cottrell replaced Shermon Burgess as chairman of the United Patriots Front, and is a founding member of the Lads Society.[4][6][7]

In September 2017, Cottrell, Neil Erikson, Simon Lewis and Chris Shortis were found guilty by a magistrate of inciting contempt against Muslims after they had enacted and made a video of a fake beheading, in order to protest against the building of a mosque in Bendigo. Each was fined $2,000.[8][3] Cottrell lodged an appeal, applying for his case to be heard in the High Court of Australia and arguing that he had been charged under an "invalid law". This was thrown out in February 2019, and he tried to have the matter heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The district court judge ruled that there were matters to be decided in her court, such as his intentions in making the video, before the case could proceed to a higher court, and set a date for the appeal to be heard in the county court.[9] The county court dismissed Cottrell's appeal in December 2019. The judge also said: "even if the ends were political, the means remain vilifying. Having a political end is not a defence to the charge.“[10]

Christchurch mosque shooter connections

In the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019, it was discovered that the perpetrator, Brenton Harrison Tarrant of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, had interacted with Cottrell's United Patriots Front (UPF) on its Facebook pages. He affectionately called Blair Cottrell "Emperor Blair Cottrell" and celebrated Donald Trump's victory as President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election, as well as donating to the UPF and threatening a man from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia over criticism of the organisation in 2016. Cottrell had distanced himself from Tarrant and denounced his attacks, stating he didn't know him. He conceded it was possible that a UPF member did meet him at one point. Tarrant was also offered to join the Lads Society, a fight club also led by Cottrell, but declined.[11][12][13]

Sky News appearance

In August 2018, News Corp news outlet Sky News Australia was criticised for providing a platform to Cottrell in a one-on-one discussion about immigration. Sky News reporter Laura Jayes took offence at his appearance on the program due to the fact that he has expressed admiration for Hitler and claimed to have manipulated women "using violence and terror". Political editor of Sky News David Speers was also critical of Cottrell's appearance on the show. Sky News commentator and former Labor Party minister Craig Emerson resigned in protest after the interview was broadcast, saying that the decision to give Cottrell a platform on Sky was "another step in a journey to normalising racism & bigotry in our country". Cottrell subsequently tweeted about Jayes: "I might as well have raped @ljayes on the air, not only would she have been happier with that but the reaction would’ve been the same." Activist groups called on advertisers to pull advertising campaigns off Sky News.[14][15][16][17][18]

Criminal activities

In 2012, Cottrell served four months in Port Phillip Prison after being convicted of stalking his ex-girlfriend and her new partner, and of arson after attempting to burn down the man's house. In December 2013 he was fined $1,000 and sentenced to seven days in jail by a County Court judge for aggravated burglary, property damage, arson, testosterone trafficking, possessing a controlled weapon and breaching court orders.[19][20][21][8]

See also

References
  1. Australian Associated Press. "Far-right extremist and convicted racist Blair Cottrell fails in supreme court appeal bid". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. An abridged list of articles that describe Cottrell as a neo-Nazi:
  3. "United Patriots Front trio found guilty of inciting serious contempt of Muslims". The Guardian. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. "Anti-Islam group leader Shermon Burgess the Great Aussie Patriot quits United Patriots Front after members tease him in Great Aussie Potator Facebook video. - Yahoo7". Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. Bachelard, Michael; McMahon, Luke. "Blair Cottrell, rising anti-Islam movement leader, wanted Hitler in the classroom". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  6. Molloy, Shannon. "We need to talk about the Australian flag and how it's being hijacked by extremists". News.com. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. Puddy, Rebecca. "Far right nationalists open private men-only clubs in Melbourne and Sydney". ABC NEWS. ABC. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  8. Cooper, Adam (5 April 2017). "Far-right trio convicted, fined $2000 each, over mock-beheading mosque protest". The Age. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  9. "Far-right extremist and convicted racist Blair Cottrell fails in supreme court appeal bid". The Guardian. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  10. Far-right extremist Blair Cottrell loses appeal against conviction for inciting contempt of Muslims
  11. Mann, Alex; Nguyen, Kevin; Gregory, Katherine (23 March 2019). "Christchurch shooting accused Brenton Tarran supports Australian far-right figure Blair Cottrell". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  12. Nguyen, Kevin (9 April 2019). "Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant sent death threat two years before attack". Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  13. Begley, Patrick (2 May 2019). "Threats from white extremist group that 'tried to recruit Tarrant'". Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  14. Meade, Amanda. "Sky News interview with far-right agitator Blair Cottrell sparks fury". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  15. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-06/sky-news-apologises-for-airing-interview-with-blair-cottrell/10076074
  16. Meade, Amanda. "Craig Emerson quits Sky News over Blair Cottrell interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  17. Zhou, Naaman. "Advertisers urged to pull campaigns from Sky News after far-right extremist interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  18. Graham, ben. "Far-right nationalist Blair Cottrell copping it over rape tweet to Sky News reporter". News.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  19. "Blair Cottrell jail interviews". Youtube.
  20. "Herald Sun — United Patriots Front leader Blair Cottrell details violent criminal past in video".

Further reading
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