The 17-year-old was held in a headlock while supporters of Fraser Anning pinned him to the ground.
The 17-year-old was held in a headlock while supporters of Fraser Anning pinned him to the ground.
WARNING: Graphic
The teenager who smashed an egg on an Australian Senator's head - after the politician's statement that deflected responsibility for the New Zealand terror attack - has spoken briefly about the aftermath.
"Don't egg politicians... you get tackled by 30 bogans at the same time. I learnt the hard way. F***," said the teenager, in a video posted to social media.
There are calls for Senator Fraser Anning to be charged with assault after lashing out at the teenager in an ugly altercation at a speaking event in Melbourne yesterday.
It comes as a change.org petition gains almost 500,000 signatures to have the controversial politician removed from parliament while the teenager involved has been hailed a "hero" online.
Senator Anning, who was roundly criticised for his comments on the Christchurch massacre he made on Friday, was egged at an organised event where protestors and supporters of the controversial identity clashed in wild scenes.
Senator Anning was being interviewed by a Melbourne newspaper reporter at Moorabin when the 17 year-old boy from Hampton broke a raw egg over the back of his head.
A shocked Senator Anning turned towards the teenager and punched him in the face. He lashed out at the teen a second time as the pair were separated.
Fraser Anning punches 17-year-old boy in the face. Photo / Supplied
The teen was held down by four grown men and was questioned by officials before being led away by police. He was later released without charge pending further investigations.
The senator has also escaped charges but questions are being asked into the conduct of the men who held the teen down, some describing it as "cruel" and saying he was "beaten up".
"Egg Boy takes a punch like a champ then gets choked in a headlock," said one commentator on Twitter.
The teenager has become a viral sensation online after shocking footage of the headlock the teen was placed in was tweeted online.
"You're nothing but a weak, human f**king being," one of the men holding down the teen can be heard.
Another bystander can be heard pleading for the man to "get off his neck".
In response to a Media Watch tweet, Senator Derryn Hinch said, "Anning was entitled to react, even instinctively, but the reaction of his goons was manifestly excessive".
Donors have billed the teenager as "hero EggBoi" praising him for his bravery and for standing up against the controversial QLD senator. According to the campaign all money raised will go to the teen for "legal fees" and "more eggs".
#eggboy stayed so calm in that headlock like he knew what was gonna happen and did it anyway- in spirit and courage we stand!
— Big Mouth Billy Bass Singing Fish (@elpomodoro) March 16, 2019
After the teen was hauled away, a supporter told the senator the "younger generation" was "taking up the fight".
Senator Anning responded: "Well he's obviously a little on the crazy side, but yeah."
Someone has just slapped an egg on the back of Australian Senator Fraser Anning's head, who immediately turned around and punched him in the face. @politicsabc@abcnewspic.twitter.com/HkDZe2rn0X
Far-right activist Neil Erikson was involved in tackling the teen to the ground, according to the Age. He shouted at organisers to remove the protestor and to remove reporters.
"Get the journalist out of here ... If you don't like, get out," he said.
Media Watch's Paul Barry went on to say Senator Anning can "resign from parliament as soon as he cleans (the egg) off".
The clash followed a scathing response to Senator Anning's press release in which he appeared to deflect responsibility for Friday's attack from the gunmen to New Zealand's immigration program.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the Queensland senator's comments, as did both sides of politics and the mainstream media.
Piers Morgan wrote: "Are you f***ing kidding me? This guy is an Australian senator? SHAME on you @fraser_anning.
"I hope your fellow Australians respond to this disgusting statement with the same blind fury I am feeling."
News.com.au political reporter Sam Clench wrote: "The Australian senator currently spewing racist garbage in response to the New Zealand mosque attack got 19 votes at the last election. Nineteen. Maybe we need to rethink our electoral system."
After the 17-year-old boy who egged Anning was violently gang-tackled to the ground by 5-6 men including Neil Erikson, @10NewsFirstMelb reporter and I asked the men to stop digging their knees and elbows into the boy and let him up after he was clearly restrained @theage
I was then physically removed by Anning's supporters and accused of being a "filthy f******* journalist" by Neil Erikson. Several Anning supporters followed me out and held phones to my face demanding I tell them my name @theage
"I am utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community, and I totally condemn the actions of the gunman," Senator Anning said in his statement.
"However, while this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence.
"As always, left-wing politicians and the media will rush to claim that the causes of today's shootings lie with gun laws or those who hold nationalist views but this is all clichéd nonsense.
"The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place."
Senator Anning went on to say that while Muslims may have been victims of attacks, he claimed they were also perpetrators. and blamed deaths on "the entire religion of Islam". "It is the religious equivalent of fascism," he said.
He ended with a passage from the bible and said those who followed a violent religion that called on them to murder "cannot be too surprised when someone takes them at their word and responds in kind".
While evidence of him sharing that statement has been removed from his social media counts he tweeted:
Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?
— Fraser Anning Official (@fraser_anning) March 15, 2019
A media adviser for Senator Anning told news.com.au yesterday there had been no backlash to the statement, but it only took minutes for social media to blow up in outrage.
Among the criticism was a rebuke by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who described the statement as "disgusting".
"I want to absolutely and completely denounce the statements made from Senator Anning in all of the comments that he has made in his conflation of this horrendous terror attack with issues on immigration and Islamic faith," Morrison said in a press conference on Saturday.
"These comments are appalling and ugly and have no place in Australia and he should be frankly ashamed of himself.
"It's not somerthing my government assosicates with or any one would seek to associate with."
Morrison said the government will lead a motion of censure against Senator Anning in parliament.
"Parliament, I'm sure, will express a very clear view about what he's had to say," Morrison said.
The remarks by Senator Fraser Anning blaming the murderous attacks by a violent, right-wing, extremist terrorist in New Zealand on immigration are disgusting. Those views have no place in Australia, let alone the Australian Parliament.
"The remarks by Senator Fraser Anning blaming the murderous attacks by a violent, right-wing, extremist terrorist in New Zealand on immigration are disgusting.
"Those views have no place in Australia, let alone the Australian Parliament."
Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also slammed the "obscure" Senator.
"While families in Christchurch mourn for loved ones they've lost, an obscure Australian Senator saw this act of terrorism and tragedy as an opportunity to blame the murder victims," Shorten said.
Never has our democracy been so debased as it is by the presence of that piece of human garbage Fraser Anning in our Senate. What he’s tweeted in the last fifteen minutes is almost beyond belief
