In a global climate where tweets and comments made by people high in power embolden violent extremists, one 17 year old school boy decided to confront a controversial Australian Senator armed with only a mobile phone and an egg.
Following the Christchurch terrorist attacks which saw 49 people lose their lives, teenager Will Connolly ‘egged’ Australian Senator Fraser Anning at a Conservative National Party Meeting.
Earlier that day the Senator had penned a letter in response to the terror attacks blaming ‘the real cause of the bloodshed’ on the ‘immigration program that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand.’
The incident was captured on Connolly’s phone and was quick to reach viral status.
Now with over half a million followers on his personal Instagram account, Connolly made international headlines for his behaviour and has been declared a ‘hero’ by social media.
The 17 year old was released without charges over the incident, but nation-wide conversations over the incident and the Senator’s actions continue the roar on.
A petition calling for Anning to be removed from parliament has received more than 1.3 million signatures.
The change.org petition asks that the Senator be pushed to resign from his position and further, ‘be investigated by law enforcement agencies for supporting right wing terrorism.’
Along with community action, local artists have created murals around Australia depicting ‘Egg Boy.’
And the support doesn’t stop at Australia. Tributes from international artists have also spread throughout the internet.
Even Australian basketball player Ben Simmons was spotted with the words ‘egg boy’ on his shoes before playing a NBA game over the weekend.
While there has also been debate around any kind of violence, political and otherwise, being wrong, the incident overall has been celebrated for the fact that it has shown the world that ‘violent words’ are, on the whole, intolerable within society.
It will be interesting to see what the young man and others like him will do with this platform. Keep watch, world. There may be more omelettes to come.
