Byron Clark

Byron C. Clark is a Christchurch-based New Zealand writer, video essayist and researcher who specialises in documenting far-right, alt-right and conspiracy movements in Aotearoa New Zealand.

He is the author of Fear: New Zealand's Hostile Underworld of Extremists, and has written for outlets including Newsroom, The Spinoff, Overland and Fightback, as well as producing video essays on YouTube.

Clark has described his own political radicalisation as following a left-wing path, and has said he does not reject being described as "far left", distinguishing this from the far right on the grounds that the far left seeks greater social and economic equality while the far right is rooted in white supremacy.

Activism

Video essays and early far-right research Clark began producing YouTube videos discussing left-wing politics and the Occupy movement in the early 2010s, and started paying closer attention to alt-right groups from around 2016.

When the New Zealand government designated the American groups the Proud Boys and The Base as terrorist entities in 2022, Clark said the move reflected intelligence assessments that far-right terrorism posed a greater risk in New Zealand than Islamist terrorism, and cautioned that some small local groups shared ideology with the perpetrator of the Christchurch attacks.

Ahead of the book's release, its publisher decided against holding a public launch after Clark and police became aware of online discussion about a possible plot to assassinate him; Clark instituted a personal safety plan, including staying away from his home and workplace for a period, and carrying a personal alarm.

In 2019, the far-right YouTuber Lee Williams gave a false name to gain entry to Clark's workplace and filmed himself confronting Clark there; the footage was shared online, and Williams was later dismissed by his employer, dairy company Synlait, over racist comments made on his own YouTube channel.

In January 2024, Clark requested a restraining order against Arps, who was in prison at the time. In July the Christchurch District Court found that Clark's evidence had not directly stated that he feared for his own safety, and so dismissed his request. Clark, who had filed his request without a lawyer, thought that his fear ought to have been evident as his affidavit documented years of harassment and intimidation that he had endured from Arps. One example was a September 2023 post on Telegram in which Arps encouraged another man who had harassed him at work.

During the court hearing Arps posted insults about Clark on social media. He had planned to speak in court, but left before the hearing ended while loudly insulting Clark. However, Wilson argued the book did not clearly define its central terms – "far right", "alt-right" and "extremism" – and used them interchangeably to describe groups he considered ideologically disparate, and that some chapters, including one on Hindutva-aligned organisations, asserted a domestic threat without sufficient New Zealand-specific evidence.

2007 Christchurch mayoral election

2008 Christchurch Central