Man charged with displaying Nazi hate symbol after showing off tattoos at NSW beach | New South Wales

A man who allegedly displayed Nazi hate symbols by showing off his tattoos at a popular beach in New South Wales has been charged.

Ben Parsons was at Bar beach in Newcastle with his children on December 24 when he noticed a man with tattoos linked to white supremacist ideology, including symbols associated with the Nazi SS.

“He was talking really loud and acting quite obnoxiously,” local resident Parsons told Guardian Australia on Sunday.

“He turned around and I saw the tattoos on his leg.”

Parsons said the man, who was with another woman and children, had a large white power tattoo on his calf and the logo of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi regime’s elite guard responsible for atrocities during the genocide, near his ankle.

Parsons took photos of the man’s tattoos. The man then left the beach, giving a white power signal.

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Parsons later reported the incident to Crime Stoppers and made a statement to NSW Police and Operation Shelter, the task force that oversees the response to antisemitic incidents.

Parsons said he was not shy about speaking out against the display of racist ideology and said Australians needed to come together, especially at this time.

“We all need to be the best Australians we can be right now, to show solidarity and unity, to call out racism and fascism when we see it,” he said.

Coffs Harbor detectives arrested a 36-year-old man at a home in Urunga, south of Coffs Harbour, at around 6.30pm on Saturday, NSW police said in a statement.

“He was taken to Coffs Harbor police station and charged with intentional public act, unexcused display of a Nazi symbol and causing a prohibited Nazi symbol to be displayed in a public place.

“The man was released on strict conditional bail to appear at Newcastle local court on Thursday 22 January 2026.”