Newshub reporter Sophie Bateman describes Generation Identity leader Martin Sellner as violent without providing a single shred of evidence.
The examples she does provide are sourced from Left-wing sites such as Huffington Post, the BBC and Vox. Not one of the pieces of evidence she uses demonstrates any violence whatsoever despite her article headline declaring…
Martin Sellner: A history of ‘non-violent’ violence.
There is not even the pretence of neutrality any more. It is appalling journalism.
Even if you are not a fan of Sellner, the article comes across as a tortured and confused piece. For example, as a black mark against him, Bateman states that Sellner attended services for soldiers who fought in the Wehrmacht.
The German term “Wehrmacht” stems from the compound word of German: wehren, “to defend” and Macht, “power, force”. It has been used to describe any nation’s armed forces. The writer appeared to be trying to suggest that all Wehrmacht soldiers were Nazis.
Here are claims made by Bateman that are not backed up with any evidence, but are stated as if they are facts.
- Martin Sellner says he doesn’t condone violence, a claim that is incompatible with his ideology.
- Sellner is keen to distance himself from the man accused of murdering 51 people in cold blood, yet he has a long history of admiring and participating in fascism – an inherently violent political ideology.
- “Historians have said fascism is notoriously difficult to define because of its ideological inconsistency and willingness to adopt and discard ideas at random. But something that never changes is its passion for violence as both a means and an end – and it’s this dependence on violence that forms the core of Sellner’s belief system.”
The following claims while containing some facts are still not examples of violence.
- When he was 17 in 2006 he stuck a swastika poster on a synagogue in response to the arrest of Holocaust-denier David Irving.
- In 2008 Sellner helped prominent neo-Nazis disrupt left-wing demonstrations.
- In 2008 he attended memorial services for soldiers who fought in the Wehrmacht.
- “Now 30, the genial Austrian with the trendy haircut claims his Nazi-supporting days are behind him. But just last week he was permanently banned from entering the UK, his extremist views deemed harmful to the country’s interests.”
- “Sellner is the leader of Generation Identity (GI), an “Identitarian” group with three core aims according to its website: “stop the Islamisation of Europe”, “oppose globalisation” and “stop and reverse the Great Replacement”.
- It’s been called a “conspiracy theory” designed to whip up disaffected white people into a frenzy of paranoid bigotry, and has been found to have little basis in reality.
- “American geographer Reece Jones argues it’s impossible to oppose migration peacefully, as militarised borders are violent and oppressive by nature.”
- “The desire to force an ethnic or religious group out of the country in which they live is an inherently violent one, as there’s no feasible way this goal can be achieved without rounding people up and dragging them away against their will.”
- Restricting human movement is therefore a violent act, whether states are removing people from a country or preventing them from entering one.
- Sellner’s own “Identitarian” group has actively engaged in violent tactics […] In 2017 GI members were involved in an attempt to prevent rescue boats bringing migrants to land […] No one was hurt or killed in the demonstration, but GI’s intention was to have people drown at sea rather than set foot on European soil, a vehemently violent sentiment.
- “Politico reports GI members […] use phrases like “air strike” and “sniper attack” as analogies for online harassment.”
In a recent interview with Newshub’s Patrick Gower, Sellner repeatedly asserted he’s a peaceful person. That’s why he felt compelled to return money donated to him by the alleged Christchurch shooter, giving half to the victims of the mosque attacks.
Sellner told Gower his supporters should “stop posting on the internet and get on the streets, show their face in a peaceful way. Show that they are against mass migration and against Islamisation.”
Newshub
The entire article was an attempt to smear Sellner as violent even though he has done nothing violent. Instead, we are lectured that being anti-immigration is “inherently violent” and that using military language as slang for online activist action is violence. We are also told that no matter what Sellner says about his beliefs and no matter how peaceful his actions he is not to be believed because his beliefs are inherently violent.