Anti-immigrant protester shouts slogans at PM Modi in Australia: ‘No more Indians… | Today’s News
According to Australian media reports, a far-right anti-immigrant protester entered a Melbourne hotel where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was staying during his official visit to Australia and shouted slogans linked to abuse.
The incident occurred within hours of Modi arriving on a two-day visit to Melbourne on Wednesday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The same person later tried to interrupt the prime minister’s address to the Indian diaspora on Thursday at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, but was drowned out by the music and forced to leave.
The protester, identified as Hugo Lennon, who uses the persona ‘Auspill’ on social media, uploaded a video in which he is seen shouting at Modi as the prime minister walked through the hotel lobby on a red carpet.
“This is Australia. No more Indians. We don’t want any more migration. This country is for Australians,” Lennon was heard shouting from the floor above the lobby.
Police quickly removed him from the first-floor balcony overlooking the lobby as he continued to raise slogans.
A Victoria Police spokesman said the 22-year-old man was “visiting the hotel shouting political statements” around 12.30pm on Wednesday.
“Police moved him without incident,” a spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Police did not comment on how the protester knew the prime minister’s location or how close he got to Modi. However, local media reported that “some far-right influencers shared online knowledge of Modi’s movement around the city during his visit”.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Lennon is a “neo-Nazi collaborator” and heir to a wealthy property development company family that has emerged as a far-right influencer.
The Daily Mail reported that Lennon was among the key figures behind the anti-immigrant “March for Australia”, a series of nationwide rallies last year that attracted thousands of like-minded protesters. Australian media later reported that several of the organizers, including Lennon, were allegedly linked to neo-Nazi and white nationalist associations.
