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| Abbreviation | TBC |
|---|---|
| Founder | Kane Miller |
| Founded at | Melton, Victoria, Australia |
| Type | Far-right |
| Purpose | Anti-immigration Anti-Islam Anti-multiculturalism Far-right politics Hinduphobia[citation needed] Antisemitism[citation needed] Homophobia[citation needed] |
Region | Victoria |
| Leader | Kane Miller |
| Affiliations | United Patriots Front (UPF),Reclaim Australia |
Formerly called | Reclaim Australia |
| Split from Reclaim Australia | |
TheTrue Blue Crew (TBC) is an Australianfar-rightextremist group.[1][2] Members and supporters have been linked toright-wing terrorism andvigilantism, and members have been arrested with weapons and on terrorism-related charges. Experts who have studied the group say it appears to be "committed to violence".[3]
The group rose to prominence as an anti-Islam group in 2015, and shifted more towards anti-immigration in response to public sentiment and police crackdowns.[3]
Beginning in 2014, members of what would become the True Blue Crew were involved in the "Voices of Bendigo" and"Stop the Mosque" Bendigo protests. A number of far-right groups, including theQ Society,Reclaim Australia, theAustralian Defence League and theUnited Patriots Front opposed the construction of a mosque and Islamic community centre inBendigo, Victoria.[4][5]
The True Blue Crew was formed in 2015 as a splinter group from the anti-IslamicReclaim Australia group, along with a number of small far-right nationalist groups such as theUnited Patriots Front.[6]
In May 2016, the group attended an anti-mosque protest in Melton along with members of the United Patriots Front and theLove Australia or Leave Party.[7] About 150 people attended, opposing a housing development which they falsely claimed was being built for Muslims only.[7] As the crowd dispersed following a similar protest in August the same year, fighting broke out between members of the True Blue Crew and anti-Muslimvigilante group the Sons of Odin.[8]
In January 2018, United Patriots Front and True Blue Crew were reported byChannel 7 news to be attempting to arrange vigilante patrols to monitor youngAfrican Australian men. The report led to accusations that Channel 7 were giving neo-Nazis a speech platform.[9][10]
On 25 June 2016, police seized weapons including a knife andknuckle duster during an "Australian Pride" rally.[8][11]
In August 2016, a member of True Blue Crew, Phillip ("Phil") Galea, was charged with terrorism-related offences. Galea had ordered ingredients for explosives, and video footage seized in raids showed Galea carrying out reconnaissance of a possible target. His intended targets were various "leftist" organisations inMelbourne, includingTrades Hall inCarlton, theMelbourne Anarchist Club inNorthcote, and the Resistance Centre in theMelbourne CBD. Galea's intentions were to cause as much devastation to these locations as possible, in a coordinated attack involvingsmoke bombs andimprovised explosive devices. At court, it was outlined that his aims were to eliminate the leaders of the left in Melbourne, blaming them for the "Islamisation" of Australia. Galea had researched homemade bombs,ballistic armour and guns, and had prepared a terrorist document entitledPatriot’s Cookbook, intended to be a how-to guide forfar-right terrorists.[12][13][14][15][16]
Galea was also a supporter or member ofRight Wing Resistance Australia,[17] theUnited Patriots Front,Patriots Defence League Australia, and the openly neo-Nazi groupCombat 18, as well as TBC and Reclaim Australia.[12]
He was convicted in December 2019 of plotting terrorist attacks and creating a document likely to facilitate a terrorist act.[15] He was sentenced to maximum of twelve years in jail, with a nine-year minimum in December 2020.[18] Prominent anti-fascist observer and commentatorAndy Fleming saw Galea's conviction as reflecting "the decline of extreme- and far-right groups and organising projects, including... Reclaim Australia and The True Blue Crew".[17]
In the wake of theChristchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, it emerged that the perpetrator, Brenton Tarrant, had three years earlier given fulsome praise toBlair Cottrell as a leader of the far-right movements on social media. He made more than 30 comments on the now deletedUPF and TBCFacebook pages, singling out Cottrell for praise and disparagingNeil Erikson and Shermon Burgess as "useful idiots".[19] The group was banned from Facebook after posting Islamophobic messages in the wake of the Christchurch massacre.[20]
Members of TBC have been linked toOne Nation candidate Nikhil Reddy, with members of both groups volunteering for one another.[20]
