Active 2015–present | Leader Blair Cottrell | |
Ideology ultranationalismanti-Islamanti-multiculturalismanti-immigrationFar-right | ||
The United Patriots Front (UPF), otherwise known as Fortitude, is a far-right Paramilitary, street protest movement and Facebook group based in Australia which opposes immigration, multiculturalism and Islam. It is a splinter group from the anti-Islamic Reclaim Australia group, formed after a dispute between Shermon Burgess and Reclaim Australia organisers. The group has been described by a number of media outlets and journalists as a hate group, and has claimed solidarity with the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, a Greek party. UPF leader Blair Cottrell has distanced himself from neo-Nazism, but has expressed "radical anti-Jew, anti-woman and pro-Nazi views" online, and has praised Adolf Hitler.
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Blair Cottrell
Blair Cottrell is the Chairman of the United Patriot's Front, having replaced Sherman Burgess in October 2015. Cottrell has been criticised by the media due to his criminal convictions (which include arson, stalking, making threats to kill and breaching intervention orders), and for several of his public statements, including a desire to see a portrait of Adolf Hitler hung in Australian classrooms and for copies of Mein Kampf to be "issued annually" to students. Cottrell has denied supporting Nazism.
In February 2016, Cottrell was mocked after being photographed purchasing a meal from a halal-certified fast-food restaurant, despite his vocal opposition to halal certification and support for boycotts of certified businesses and products.
2015
In May, UPF led a demonstration in Richmond, Victoria purporting to be against left-wing violence and Councillor Stephen Jolly, of the Socialist Party. The group has been accused of being extremist, racist, and having neo-Nazi supporters.
In June, the group protested Zaky Mallah's appearance on Q&A, a television programme, by roasting a pig outside the Melbourne office of the ABC in an apparent attempt to upset Muslims. On July 23, Victoria Police commissioner Graham Ashton confirmed a firearm was seized in Sydney from a man who was travelling to the rally on July 18.
In August, Fairfax Media reported that one of the group's leaders, Neil Erikson, was under investigation for alleged conversations with an unknown person threatening councillor Stephen Jolly.
In September, the group announced that they would contest the Senate at the upcoming 2016 Federal election. The group also distributed pamphlets to municipal, state, and federal government figures that attacked the Bendigo mayor. The pamphlet was interpreted as threat by one official.
In October, the group beheaded a dummy outside the Bendigo City Council chambers to protest the 2015 Parramatta shooting and approval to construct a mosque in Bendigo. A leader of the local anti-mosque group disassociated from the UPF. They later held a demonstration in Rosalind park which attracted around 1,000 supporters in conjunction with the World Wide rally for Humanity, which was a global anti-Islam rally. A Victorian police officer said that most protesters who came to protest in Bendigo travelled from other Australian states.
On the eve of the proposed 10 October rally in Bendigo, the group was criticised by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who said they "wouldn't be able to spell Bendigo".
In November the group stated their intention to start a political party called Fortitude.
An administrator of the group's Facebook page was featured in a video with Australia First Party chairman Jim Saleam. Blair Cottrell, an organiser, told Neil Mitchell his organisation would "only be violent if they needed to defend themselves".
2016
In April 2016, United Patriots Front was lambasted in the Australian media following the unfurling of a banner with the words "Stop the Mosques" at an Australian Football League match between Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 April. The media and officials of the sport condemned the UPF supporters, for action described as being "offensive", "disgusting" and "racist" for their involvement with the banner. On 10 April, the banner was displayed at another Australian Football League game in Perth. The UPF members were removed from the grounds and the banner confiscated.
2017
Prominent members of the group, including its leader Blair Cottrell, were charged with "serious religious vilification", among other offenses.