<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>330535</docID> <postdate>2024-10-09 16:40:46</postdate> <headline>Neo-Nazi who performed salute walks ahead of jail term</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-330536" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241009140264352240-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Thomas Sewell carried a Friedrich Nietzsche book as he accompanied Jacob Hersant into court. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Tara Cosoleto</strong> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>A neo-Nazi facing jail time for performing the Nazi salute in public has been allowed to walk free from court before his sentence. </strong></p> <p>Jacob Hersant, 25, went into Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon with a bag packed for prison after he became the first Victorian convicted of the offence.</p> <p>Magistrate Brett Sonnet had earlier indicated Hersant would be immediately remanded in custody after deciding jail was the only appropriate sentence.</p> <p>But Mr Sonnet changed his mind in the afternoon after hearing defence submissions, allowing Hersant's summons to continue until his sentencing hearing in November.</p> <p>"My intention is to jail him - nothing changes that fact," the magistrate said.</p> <p>Hersant on Tuesday became the first Victorian found guilty of intentionally performing the Nazi salute in public.</p> <p>Video played in court showed Hersant raising his arm to salute in front of journalists and camera crews outside the County Court on October 27, 2023 - six days after Victorian laws banning the gesture came into effect.</p> <p>He was then captured saying "nearly did it - it's illegal now" and "Australia for the white man, heil Hitler", before walking away.</p> <p>Hersant's barrister Tim Smartt told the court his client was a far better person than the behaviour demonstrated in the video.</p> <p>Hersant was a family man and full-time carer of his two-year-old son while he was unemployed, Mr Smartt said.</p> <p>The 25-year-old also won a poetry competition in the United States, which Mr Smartt said was not connected to Nazi ideology.</p> <p>The barrister submitted Hersant was a young person who was on track towards rehabilitation, and the offending was at the lower end of seriousness so a $1500 fine was within range.</p> <p>But prosecutor Daniel Gurvich KC pushed for jail time, saying Hersant's salute and comments outside court had vilified minority groups.</p> <p>"It has no place in Victoria," the prosecutor said.</p> <p>Mr Gurvich said Hersant was "calculated" and wanted to "achieve maximum impact" when he performed the Nazi gesture in front of waiting media in October 2023.</p> <p>The prosecutor also noted comments Hersant made to journalists on Tuesday, when he stated "loudly and clearly" he would continue to perform the salute away from the police.</p> <p>Hersant's prospects of rehabilitation were poor to non-existent, Mr Gurvich said.</p> <p>Mr Sonnet agreed prison was the only appropriate sentence.</p> <p>The magistrate noted there had been no guilty plea, or signs of remorse, and Hersant had relevant prior convictions.</p> <p>But Mr Sonnet made clear he was punishing Hersant for breaking the law rather than his extremist views.</p> <p>"He's entitled to hold those views despite how unpalatable and offensive they are to others," the magistrate said.</p> <p>Hersant was quiet in court as he sat next to his mother and fellow neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, who carried a copy of Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals, a book popular with the far-right.</p> <p>Going into court in the afternoon, Hersant said he would appeal the "anti-white and tyrannical laws" and he was prepared to go to jail for his beliefs.</p> <p>But as he was leaving, he told reporters he would only make a comment when he appeals.</p> <p>Sewell also clashed with journalists, claiming he had the right to make political gestures and the magistrate's decision would be challenged in a higher court.</p> <p>Hersant will be sentenced on November 8.</p> </body>