Supporters of a notorious Austrian neo-Nazi rapper known as a “far-right Weird Al” have drawn up an “enemy list” targeting journalists, prosecutors, judges and others they blame for his incarceration.
The list, naming 15 individuals, was recently posted on Telegram groups for supporters of “Mr Bond” – the alter ego of Philip Hassler, an Austrian right-wing extremist who has gained a dedicated following among neo-Nazis across the world for his hate anthems. Hassler was known for creating parody versions of hit songs – often hip hop tracks – with violently racist and antisemitic lyrics, creating a potent form of online white supremacist propaganda.
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Hassler began releasing music under the Mr Bond alias in 2016, but it wasn’t until one of his songs was used to soundtrack a livestreamed neo-Nazi attack on a synagogue in the German city of Halle in October 2019 that his activities drew wider scrutiny. He was subsequently arrested at his home in Austria in January 2021, and eventually sentenced to 10 years prison in April last year for promoting neo-Nazism and inciting violence.
Hassler’s imprisonment has made him a cause celebre for hardcore neo-Nazis in the US and Europe, with supporters calling for his release in online forums, setting up a website dedicated to him, and recording podcasts speaking out in his defence. After his sentencing last year, a US-based neo-Nazi group called NSC-131 posted a picture of its members in front of a wall graffitied with the slogan “Free Mr Bond.”
READ: Neo-Nazi rapper known as a “far-right Weird Al” arrested
In the latest development, the “enemy list” was posted on a Telegram channel for Mr Bond supporters with nearly 1,500 members, singling out 15 individuals who they saw as bearing responsibility for his conviction. The post, viewed by VICE News, targeted “anyone who played a part in the investigation, arrest, prosecution, sentencing, appeal trial, and conviction of Mr Bond,” listing journalists, judges, prosecutors and a court spokesperson.
At the top of the list was Christof Mackinger, a Vienna-based freelance journalist who in September 2020 revealed that the anonymous Nazi rapper hailed from Austria. He told VICE News that although it was “not nice” to be identified as a potential target, he had been threatened before by Hassler’s supporters and wouldn’t let it deter him from his work.
“It’s not very pleasant to be on this list. This is a scene that’s very dangerous because they’re very pro-accelerationist,” he said, referring to an extremist ideology that favours acts of mass violence to hasten the collapse of society.
“I live with other people and it’s not nice having people thinking that some day someone might appear at our house and make some trouble.”
The “enemy list” was also identified by Stoppt die Rechten (Stop the Right), an NGO that monitors right-wing extremism in Austria, and has been tracking Hassler and his network of international supporters since his arrest.
A spokesperson for the group, who did not want to be named due to the threat they faced for their work, said that they had notified those named on the list, as well as Austria’s domestic intelligence agency, which is responsible for monitoring extremist threats.
“The Telegram channel … has almost 1,500 subscribers,” said the Stoppt die Rechten spokesperson.
They said that Hassler had “managed to achieve a kind of cult status through his music,” becoming “well-known and celebrated … for his glorification of right-wing terrorist attacks.”
“It should be taken seriously if such a list circulates in a potentially violent, but in any case violence-glorifying milieu.”
READ: The rapper who remade hip hop into white power anthems faces jail
A spokesperson for Austria’s Federal Ministry for the Interior told VICE News that authorities were aware of the existence of the list and taking “relevant measures,” but did not elaborate on what those actions were.
Mackinger said the enemy list was a reflection of the devoted fan base that had sprung up around Hassler, who was held up as a kind of celebrity in pockets of the neo-Nazi underground internationally.
Hassler’s supporters also sought the release of his brother Benjamin, who is also serving four years in jail after the investigation into Philip led to him being unmasked as the operator of a neo-Nazi website dedicated to, in its own words, “documenting anti-White traitors, subversives, and highlighting Jewish influence.” Nearly 1,800 people were listed on the vehemently antisemitic website, with listings of Jewish people annotated with a “Judenstern” – the “Jews’ Star” which the Nazis forced Jews to wear.
Mackinger said the neo-Nazi rapper’s supporters were dedicated to him because they were fired up by his overtly anti-Semitic lyrics, which called for acts of gratuitous violence, and because they viewed his songs as an effective form of online propaganda.
“Every so often, someone will write online; ‘Wow, I was blackpilled by Mr Bond, and they’ll all celebrate it,” he said. “They think it’s a good way to politicise people.”
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