National Socialist Network ramp up activity in WA, neo-Nazis stage protest on Kwinana Freeway

A group of Perth neo-Nazis are being investigated by police after they staged a protest on a freeway calling for “mass deportation” as their recent antics across the State are revealed. Local members of the National Socialist Network, wearing all black and covering their faces, took to a road bridge above the Kwinana Freeway holding a sign reading “mass deportation” earlier this month. A WA Police spokesperson said they were investigating if any laws had been broken. “The Western Australia Police Force is aware of this incident and is investigating whether an unlawful offence has been committed,” a spokesperson said. The latest public display comes as the NSN continues to recruit across Australia, including in WA, with recently published propaganda videos shared on YouTube, TikTok and Rumble — a video sharing platform with few content restrictions. People linked to the WA chapter last weekend gathered at an unknown address to discuss the group’s future, which include aspirations to form a political party. The majority of attendees had their faces blurred in the pictures shared, except three men including a man who was the Perth chapter leader in late March. The West can reveal that man as 28-year-old Hagen Palme. It is understood Mr Palme goes by the nickname “ninja.” Another attendee who did not have his face blurred is Mason Robbins, a man who attended an Australia Day protest with his fellow members in Adelaide this year. Former Busselton council hopeful Stephen Wells was also in attendance, who told The West the “political seminar” was just a “normal democracy thing” amid hopes they could form a political party. Members of the WA chapter have in recent months ventured to Giants Cave, in the Leeuwin-Naturalist National Park, to pose with their national socialist flags. A young child — believed to be under the age of 10 — was pictured standing alongside the men inside the cave. According to the group’s own application process, members are required to attend gatherings in person once a month. The NSN, who openly advocate for a “white Australia,” were in the headlines in January when more than a dozen members from around the country travelled to South Australia for the Australia day protest. Multiple men were arrested over there alleged conduct, including Mr Robbins and Mr Wells, before their charges were dropped by police. A propaganda video released by the group shows them debriefing after their Australia day activity, heralding it as a success. The group’s leader, Thomas Sewell, in the same video is seen punching one of his fellow members so hard he falls to the ground during an in-house MMA-match. After calling off the fight, Sewell turns to the camera and says: “give the camera something, Hail Hitler.” WA Police commissioner Col Blanch said in the wake of the Adelaide incident that the The State Security Investigations Group knew the identities of men purporting to be white supremacists, with police actively tracking them. “We know who they are, we know where they live, and we know their presence online,” he said. The SSIG are an elite and secretive unit within the force who investigate anti-Semitism and ideological extremism. Following the latest protest, a police spokesperson said investigators “remained focused on monitoring and responding to individuals or groups whose actions may pose a risk to public safety.” “WA Police are equipped to intervene when activities linked to ideological extremism impact public safety or cross into criminal conduct.” “Any behaviour that threatens community safety or breaches the law will be addressed in accordance with established legal processes.”