At a news conference in Melbourne on Saturday, 16 March, 17-year-old Will Connolly slammed an egg on right-wing Australian senator Fraser Anning’s head, Al Jazeera reports. Anning had sparked anger offline and on social media, after he blamed Muslim immigration for the terror attack on a mosque in New Zealand. Here’s a video of the incident:
After the New Zealand mosque terror attack, Anning made remarks calling the shooting an “Muslim terrorist attack,” in a series of tweets.
Anning’s comments were labelled as “disgusting” by the Australian PM Scott Morrison and he announced that he would launch a bipartisan motion of censure against Anning. Other politicians world-wide condemned Anning for his statement as well.
“The remarks by Senator Fraser Anning blaming the murderous attacks by a violent, right-wing, extremist terrorist in New Zealand on immigration are disgusting.”Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Twitter Hails ‘Egg Boy’
Twitter took to celebrate the teenager in the video, calling him “a national hero” for standing up to a racist senator.
A page was even started in his name, with petitions to nominate him for Australian awards. Others tweeted offering him honorary New Zealand citizenship, hailing his courage at a young age.
Senator’s Disproportionate Use of Force
Among the memes and humour, folks on Twitter raised important points about Anning physically attacking the minor in response.
“Egg Boy” Says ‘Don’t Egg a Politician, You’ll Be Attacked’
Despite the nation-wide praise and support, “Egg Boy” WIll Connolly said, “don’t egg a politician, you’ll tackled by 30 bogans at the same time.”
A chilling video showed Connolly in a headlock by right-wing supporters after he egged Anning.
A tweet by Melbourne journalist Kristy Mayr adds that Connolly has been released by the police with no charges against him.
(With inputs from Al Jazeera and ITV)
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