A leading member of the Australian neo-nazi movement has died, reportedly having taken his own life.
Timothy Lutze, 36, from Victoria, died in mid-August. He had been facing criminal charges connected with an attack on Melbourne’s Indigenous protest site, Camp Sovereignty.
A former gym owner and boxer, Lutze was part of the leadership circle of the now-disbanded National Socialist Network (NSN) led by the neo-nazi Thomas Sewell.
Camp assault
Footage of the storming of Camp Sovereignty showed approximately 40 men dressed in black, many of whom were linked to the NSN, storming the site following the far-right March for Australia protest in August last year.
Prosecutors allege Sewell urged the group forward before occupants were held down, kicked and struck with poles. At least seven people were assaulted. One woman required staples in her scalp to close a wound.
Lutze had pleaded guilty to violent disorder and committing an indictable offence in connection with the attack. His charges were subsequently withdrawn on August 21, after his death, though the reason for the withdrawal has not been publicly explained.
Not discussed
In the Victorian County Court on August 25, as several individuals including Sewell and fellow NSM activist Nathan Bull appeared for a directions hearing for the Camp Sovereignty violence, a judge confirmed Lutze’s death. The circumstances of his death have not been made public.
There was also an apparent reluctance within the Australian far right to publicly acknowledge Lutze’s death before it was confirmed in court.
An online discussion reportedly featured a Western Australian white supremacist asking others not to discuss “a certain death”, while another participant questioned why the death was being “swept under the rug”.
British connection
The NSN was one of Australia’s most prominent neo-nazi organisations, combining explicitly National Socialist ideology with street demonstrations, online propaganda and recruitment.
Under Sewell, the NSN developed close ties with British far-right figures, with Sewell appearing several times on Patriotic Alternative leader Mark Collett’s online Patriotic Weekly Review, and Collett has raised funds for Sewell and other defendants in the Camp Sovereignty case.
NSN was also cited as an inspiration by the performative nazis of White Vanguard.
Black sun
Lutze’s Sunshine boxing gym became a haven for neo-nazis and numerous social media posts show Lutze making the federally banned nazi salute alongside other fascists who frequented the gym.
The NSN was disbanded in January ahead of new Australian laws targeting hate organizations.
The announcement also covered associated projects including the White Australia Party.
In response to the new legislation, which also strengthened hate-symbol offenses, Lutze would don a sweatshirt featuring the sonnenrad, or the black sun, interwoven with an image of the legendary Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly, linked to Third Reich paganism – a symbol for a mystic energy source that was supposed to renew the Aryan race.
Wealthy backers
Meanwhile, Sewell, NSN’s high-profile former leader, has found a gang of wealthy backers for his neo nazi activities in Australia.
Several millionaires quietly bankrolling Sewell were uncovered in an investigation by Australian newspapers and anti-fascists in June.
The investigation, by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, together with the anti-fascist White Rose Society, revealed Sewell was discovered secretly living in a sprawling £1.2 million estate in Melbourne’s north-east.
This weekend, exactly a year after the Camp Sovereignty attack, Australia’s white nationalists and far-right are due to take to the streets in six cities across the country for the latest round of March for Australia rallies.
