Forget the Nazi skinhead cliche. These days violent right-wing extremists are middle-class men radicalised by internet conspiracies, SA’s top terrorism cop has warned.
The Covid-19 pandemic has helped fuel a rise in far-right violent views in seemingly normal middle-class men living in the suburbs, the state’s top anti-terror police officer has revealed.
Senior police have revealed for the first time how the profile of neo-Nazi extremists has moved from a skinhead with tattoos to a “reasonably well-educated, middle-class” man aged 25.
New police figures show since that 2019, 17 suspects have been arrested for either religious or ideological terrorism-related offences but data on current investigations is secret.
Assistant Commissioner Noel Bamford told The Advertiser that counter-terrorism detectives were monitoring the National Socialist Network, which had a small but active membership of fewer than 20 people across the state.
It has attracted controversy interstate, where it has a much bigger base of supporters who communicate in secret through a range of encrypted phone applications.
While Mr Bamford said there are no other far-right groups of interest in South Australia, there are several terrorism-related cases currently before the courts.
Mr Bamford, a policeman for 45 years, told how authorities are concerned South Australians are complacent about ongoing terrorism threats, which posed a major risk.
Read the article by Andrew Hough in The Advertiser.