Jacob Hersant, a 26-year-old Melbourne-based neo-Nazi, has been released from custody after completing a one-month prison sentence. His incarceration marked a historic first in Australia, stemming from a conviction for performing a Nazi salute in public—an act recently criminalized in the state of Victoria. Hersant executed the gesture directly before television cameras outside the County Court of Victoria on October 27, 2023, deliberately flouting the new legislation just days after its enactment.
Emerging from confinement, Hersant expressed no remorse for his actions, a stance consistent with his previous declaration, “I am a Nazi.” His legal troubles, however, are far from over. On Friday, he appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court concerning separate allegations of “grossly offensive public conduct” related to an incident on Halloween 2024. Hersant and an associate, Nathan Bull, 24, are accused of verbally abusing members of the public while allegedly dressed in highly offensive costumes; Hersant as a Ku Klux Klan member and Bull in blackface with a noose around his neck.
This court appearance was adjourned until April due to a scheduling discrepancy with his co-accused’s case. A former leader of the now-disbanded National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group, Hersant also has a prior criminal history, having previously pleaded guilty to a violent disorder charge for a group assault on hikers in 2021. Despite his mounting legal challenges, Hersant remarked outside court that he had been ‘productive’ during his jail term and anticipates further guilty verdicts in his ongoing cases.