Australia bans Milo Yiannopoulos from entering country after ‘appalling’ comments on NZ shooting
The Australian government said Saturday that it has rescinded the visa of Milo Yiannopoulos for “appalling comments” that Canberra claims the conservative provocateur made in the wake of Friday’s Christchurch mosque shooting.
In a statement published by Australia’s immigration minister, David Coleman, the government said it would not allow UK-born Yiannopoulos to visit Australia for a tour this year. Without referencing any specific remarks, the post said Yiannopoulos’ comments on social media about the shooting were “appalling” and “foment hatred and division.”
YES true David Coleman has issued a Media Release ..so on Milo ..he could not come..then he could come..now he can’t come..this useless Coalition lot would not know if you were up them pic.twitter.com/SZjPit2q44
— Marlene Cameron @MarlsClayfield NO threads please (@Marlsclayfield) March 16, 2019
Coleman added that the attack, which left at least 49 Muslim worshippers dead and dozens injured, was “pure evil.” He reiterated Australia’s support to both New Zealand and Muslim communities in condemning this “inhuman act.”
The minister’s revocation comes just a week after he approved Yiannopoulos’ visa to enter Australia, despite concerns Yiannopoulos wouldn’t pass the country’s “character test.” Coleman’s department had previously warned that Yiannopoulos could fail the test due to previous admissions of being a “troll,” and for an unpaid bill to Victoria Police for policing events during his last tour of Australia in 2017.
Hitting back at the decision on Instagram, Yiannopoulos accused Coleman’s Liberal Party of betraying the fundamental Western value of free speech and for folding to pressure from the Left.
“Note that not a single word or phrase I used is quoted by the Australian government. To do so would reveal that I said nothing remotely objectionable,” Yiannopoulos said. He added that in his initial statement, he “explicitly denounced violence.”
The banning is the latest in a long line of misfortune to waylay the former-Breitbart editor and columnist, who claims to be $4 million dollars in debt since the cancellation of a lucrative book deal and speaking tour in 2017.
Attempts to organize a “magnificent 2019 comeback” took a hit in December, when the crowdfunding site Patreon de-platformed him for past association with a right-wing men’s group, the Proud Boys.
Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes previously failed Australia’s character test in November 2018. He had planned to embark on a “Deplorables tour” with former-English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson.
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