A man who wore a swastika shirt outside an inquiry into Jewish hate in Australia told police the shirt was “better than the fellow in Bondi”, court documents have revealed.
Ian Minus, 68, was spotted at a cafe outside a Clarence St building in Sydney’s CBD, where the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion was being held, on May 6 this year. The shirt read: “Anti-Semitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!”
Minus on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a single charge of knowingly displaying by public act a Nazi symbol without excuse. Two other counts of behaving in an offensive manner in or near a public place or school and causing a prohibited Nazi symbol to be displayed in a public place were withdrawn.
When police asked him to explain why he was displaying a prohibited Nazi symbol outside the royal commission, Minus replied: “I think this explains the whole thing about anti-Semitism, don’t you think so?”
“I don’t need to explain it because the T-shirt explains itself,” he added, according to a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court and seen by NewsWire.
When asked again why he was wearing the shirt, Minus said he was “terribly upset about the genocide in Gaza and the fact that we’re not allowed to protest about it. That’s why. Simple”.
He then claimed the shirt was “better than the fellow in Bondi”, the documents state. The documents do not offer any further explanation of Minus’ comment. “At the time, witnesses of the Jewish faith were being heard at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion,” the documents state.
Minus denied that the symbol, described in the statement of agreed facts as being “a star of David surrounded by a swastika, or Nazi hakenkreuz (hooked cross)”, was a swastika.
“It’s a reference to a philosophy that is being followed worldwide, and it’s upsetting the whole world,” Minus said, according to the documents. “This is just part of the scheme to quieten us all down while the genocide happens overseas. This is all part of the censorship. I’m not doing anything. I’m not threatening anybody, I don’t intend to threaten anybody. Why am I being assailed in such fashion?”
The 68-year-old was issued a move-on direction by officers outside the building on May 6. Minus had claimed he was just having a coffee when approached by reporters outside the commission, asking them “Is this a swastika?” and “Is there a royal commission here, is there?”
Just metres away inside, Jewish Australians were sharing their harrowing experiences of anti-Semitism.
“I’m sorry, I’m just enjoying a cup of coffee in the streets of Sydney. Why am I being assailed in such fashion?” he said, later pointing to his shirt and saying “I am proud of this statement”.
He later told police he wore “these T-shirts all the time” to raise awareness of the genocide in Palestine, the statement of agreed facts state.
Court documents previously seen by NewsWire show Minus has now been barred from going within 200 metres of the royal commission as per his bail conditions, and is prohibited from promoting anti-Semitism in public or on social media. Minus will be sentenced over the stunt on July 23.
