Drag Them By Their Head: Sydney Man Charged With Calling For Attack On LGBT Activists

A Sydney-based man, who told far-right Christian men to drag LGBTQI activists “by their head” has been charged with allegedly encouraging the attack on peaceful protesters outside a Belfield church.

Trigger Warning: This story has details and visuals of an attack on LGBTQI activists, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.

On Tuesday evening around 250 far-right men had rushed out of St Michael the Archangel church in Belfield in Southwest Sydney, where One Nation MLC Mark Latham was due to give a speech. 

The mob, some wearing Christian Lives Matter t-shirts, attacked a small group of around 10-15 LGBTQI activists who were peacefully protesting near the Church, punching them in the face multiple times and hitting them with rocks and bottles. 

A NSW Police officer was hit on the head with a bottle and taken to the hospital, while a cameraperson was slammed to the ground by the far-right Christian men. 

The NSW Police arrested and charged three men in connection with the attack. 

Message To ‘Real Boys’

Before the attack, Christian Sukkar filmed himself encouraging ‘real boys’ to attack the LGBTQI activists who were planning to protest against Latham’s speech at the Church.  Mark Latham was the Keynote Speaker at the ‘Community Forum on Religious Freedom and Parental Rights’ organised by Catholic Church in Belfield on March 21, 2023.

In the video, Sukkar tells other far-right men that if they were going to see the protestors, “There is only one way, and that is to grab them, and you drag them by their fucking hair, and you f**king get ’em out of there”.

He said those who wanted to pray the rosary should go to the vigil. “To the real boys… you go there tomorrow, and you fucking shake them up, and you drag them by their fucking head, and you remove them from St Michael’s Belfield…time to rise. Time to let them know where we stand.”

While Sukkar deleted the video, Community Action For Rainbow Rights reposted it and accused  Sukkar of being “one of the far-right thugs who punched and attacked LGBTI+ activists at Belfield”.

Christian Sukkar Apologises

NSW Police arrested Sukkar and took him to Campsie Police Station, where he was charged with encouraging the commission of crimes. Sukkar was released on conditional bail and is scheduled to appear before the Bankstown Local Court on April 11, 2023.

Sukkar has now apologised and said his self-filmed video calling for attacks on LGBTQI activists was not meant to be taken literally. 

“I was just singing the song, when you watch these rappers … they don’t literally mean go shoot up, go knock people out, it’s just a song,” he told ABC, adding, “I’m very apologetic if my message turned very harmful … if they took my comments as an incitement of hate”. 

Sukkar was previously seen outside St Mary’s Church last month during Cardinal George Pell’s funeral, protesting the presence of LGBTQI protesters across the road and yelling at police to move them along. He was also filmed taking down ribbons tied by child abuse survivors outside the church. 

and again…https://t.co/enJl4fdZV7

— (((hippocrates shrugged))) (@Goldy1970) March 22, 2023

NSW Police Arrest Three Men

NSW police superintendent Sheridan Waldau told media persons on Wednesday that police had no indication that Tuesday’s event would end in violence. 

The police arrested three persons and were in the process of reviewing video footage of the incident to identify more offenders, according to Waldau. 

Besides Sukkar, two others were arrested. A 41-year-old man was charged with common assault and is scheduled to appear before the court on May 30, 2023.

A 42-year-old man from Moorebank was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. He is scheduled to appear before Bankstown Local Court on April 11, 2023.