Jacob Hersant

Activities May 2021: Cathedral Range assault on hikers On 14 May 2021, Hersant was charged after a raid by counter-terrorism police at a house in the Melbourne suburb of Rowville. Hersant and Thomas Sewell were charged after an attack on three hikers in Victoria's Cathedral Range. Up to 15 other masked men attacked two passengers in a car and smashed windows. After the windows were smashed, Hersant reached into the vehicle and attempted to remove its keys. A judge later described the incident as a "terrifying, intimidating and violent incident".

On 1 August 2023, Hersant and Sewell pleaded guilty to one charge of violent disorder. Following sentencing, prosecutors appealed claiming that the sentencing was manifestly inadequate. After the act, he said "Australia for the white man. Heil Hitler, heil Hitler".

During the proceedings, lawyers for Hersant argued that the charge was not constitutionally valid as it violated the implied constitutional freedom of political communication. On 8 October 2024, during a hearing in Melbourne Magistrates' Court, he was found guilty of the offence. On 8 November 2024, Hersant was sentenced to one month in jail and then released on bail after appealing against the sentence.

Hersant's appeal was heard over three days in October. During the appeal, he argued that he had not performed a Nazi salute and, alternatively, that if he had, it constituted constitutionally protected political expression. At a hearing on 19 November 2025, County Court Judge Simon Moglia ruled that Hersant had deliberately performed a Nazi salute and that it was not protected expression. On 4 February 2026, Hersant was sentenced to one month in jail and fined $1,000 for breaching the community corrections order placed on him and Sewell following their involvement in the Cathedral Range attack. On 3 February 2026, Hersant appeared in court and requested an adjournment, as he expected to be jailed the following day in relation to another matter. Bull did not attend the hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

April 2025: Anzac Day disruption On 25 April 2025, Hersant was escorted by Victoria Police away from an Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne following disruptions to a Welcome to Country. The shouting by the small group of far-right extremists was drowned out by applause from many in the crowd of about 50,000, and condemned by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and other political leaders, as well as RSL Victoria president Robert Webster, many war veterans, and Sunrise TV host Natalie Barr.

In September 2025, Hersant was charged with "behaving in an offensive manner while in a public place, offend against decency while in the Shrine of Remembrance reserve and taking part in a disturbance in the reserve". At a hearing in November 2025, Hersant indicated that he intended to plead not guilty to the charges. In June 2026, he was convicted and fined $1,900.

Views and associations Hersant was formerly associated with the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society, along with Thomas Sewell.

In August 2021, in an undercover investigation by journalists, Hersant was recorded saying that Russian neo-Nazi Denis Kapustin "is a really good dude". Hersant was also recorded stating that he had put the Russian into contact with Jarrad Searby and that they were both into mixed martial arts.

After his conviction in 2024 for performing a Nazi salute in public, he stated to journalists "I'm ready to go to jail, because I'm a Hitler soldier and what I'm doing is right". Personal life , Hersant lives in Kensington, Melbourne.