Martin Michael Sellner
(born 8 January 1989) is a
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
Austrian
Neue Rechte
Neue Rechte (''New Right'') is the designation for a right-wing political movement in Germany. It was founded as an opposition to the New Left generation of the 1960s. Its intellectually oriented proponents distance themselves from Old Right Na ...
,
and leader of the
Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs (IBÖ, Identitarian Movement of Austria).
In March 2018, he was denied entry to, and deported from, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
A year later, he was denied entry to the United States.
Early life
Sellner was raised outside of Vienna. He became involved in nationalist politics as a teenager, being part of Austria's
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
scene.
Neo-Nazi activity
In 2006, at the age of 17, Sellner admitted to placing stickers with another person on a synagogue in
Baden bei Wien
Baden (German for " Baths"; Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden District in the state of Lower Austria. Loc ...
, Lower Austria. Stickers with a swastika and the inscription "Legalise it" as well as stickers with a coat of arms and the letters AJ (for "Aryan Youth") were used. The accomplice later stated in an interrogation that they had "wanted to do something" when they heard about the conviction of the British Holocaust denier
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include ''The Destruction of Dresden'' (19 ...
. Sellner did 100 hours of community service in a diversion at the Jewish cemetery in Baden, leading to the public prosecutor's office renouncing a criminal trial.
In 2008, he helped a leading Austrian neo-Nazi group hinder liberal demonstrations and made pilgrimages to memorial services for
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
soldiers.
In 2016, he said that he had broken with
neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
, and that the rising popularity of Nazism is a failure of society.
In April 2016, he disrupted a theatre performance of
Elfriede Jelinek
Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors writing in German today and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voi ...
's piece, ''
Die Schutzbefohlenen'' (theatre performance with migrants seeking asylum), along with around 30 members of his organisation, spilling fake blood. The blood was intended to symbolize the "blood of
Bataclan
Bataclan may refer to:
*'' Ba-ta-clan'', a 1855 operetta by Jacques Offenbach
* Bataclan (theatre), a theatre in Paris named after the operetta
**Bataclan theatre massacre, November 2015 Paris attacks
Music
*''Bataclan 1989'', by Maxime Le Fores ...
and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
".
Legal and visa problems
In February 2017, Sellner was involved in a fight in a
Vienna U-Bahn
The Vienna U-Bahn (german: U-Bahn Wien), where ''U-Bahn'' is an abbreviation of the German term ''Untergrundbahn'' ( en, underground railway), is a rapid transit system serving Vienna, Austria. With the September 2017 opening of the , five-stati ...
station where he used
pepper spray
Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
on people he described as far-left activists. Since this incident, he has been banned from carrying weapons.
In March 2018, Sellner and his girlfriend Brittany Pettibone were denied entry to the United Kingdom at
Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...
on the grounds that their presence in the United Kingdom was not conducive to the public good.
Sellner intended to deliver an address at
Speakers' Corner
A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there were a number of other areas design ...
in
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
, London. They were denied entry, detained for two days and deported.
On 25 March 2019, Sellner's apartment was searched by the Austrian police. His computer, mobile phone, all data storage devices and cash cards were confiscated on suspicion that he was a member of a terrorist organization; early in 2018 he had received a donation of $1,500 from the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n-born suspect in the
Christchurch mosque shootings
On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...
in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Sellner denied any involvement in the attacks.
According to Sellner, U.S. authorities canceled his permit to travel without a visa to the United States thus preventing him from visiting Pettibone, who was now his fiancée. In 2019, the Republican Committee of Pettibone's home county of
Kootenai County, Idaho
Kootenai County ( ) is located in the U.S. state of Idaho. In 2020, the United States Census Bureau estimated the county's population at 171,362, making it the third-most populous county in Idaho and by far the largest in North Idaho, the count ...
, called on the American federal government to allow Sellner to travel to the United States. The move caused considerable controversy within the Republican Party and the State of Idaho. Sellner has said he wants to be allowed into the country so he can marry his fiancée and so they can live together in
Post Falls, Idaho
Post Falls is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, between Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, Washington. It is a suburb of Coeur d'Alene, to the east, and a bedroom community to Spokane, to the west. The population was 38,485 at the time of the 2020 cens ...
, rather than his native Austria.
Austrian police expanded their searches of Sellner's property during June 2019 in connection with the
Christchurch shootings.
This search was later ruled illegal by a judge.
In June 2019, Sellner was permanently excluded from entering the UK on security grounds.
Views
Wolfgang Ullrich has suggested that there are connections between the worldview of Sellner and the theories of the philosopher
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
and the political theorist
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as a ...
.
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
investigation ''Undercover – The New British Far-Right'' claimed the existence of undercover footage of Sellner discussing contacts between
Generation Identity
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
and
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
groups in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, but stated that these contacts must be hidden due to
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
. The documentary claimed that Sellner stated that Jews were a problem in the 1920s and made references to the "
Jewish question
The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other "national ...
". Sellner also said that the domination of the American alt-right by the "Jewish question" is a "complete strategical and theoretical failure". It claimed he said he was an
antisemite
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in his youth, and that his friends made offensive comments about the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
He supports
The Great Replacement conspiracy theory
The Great Replacement (french: links=no, Grand Remplacement), also known as replacement theory or great replacement theory, is a white nationalist far-right conspiracy theoryPT71 disseminated by French author Renaud Camus. The original theory ...
. Sellner responded by calling the documentary a "hit piece", and that the statements were taken out of context. In a statement released by Generation Identity and Sellner, they stated that the group wants to preserve European "ethno-cultural identity" and stated that the group has no hidden agendas.
Sellner is regarded as a member of the alt-right movement.
Personal life
In 2016, Sellner was studying
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He dropped out of law school.
Sellner married Brittany Pettibone, an American
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
activist, in 2019.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellner, Martin
University of Vienna alumni
Politicians from Vienna
Identitarian movement
1989 births
Austrian activists
Antisemitism in Austria
Alt-right activists
Far-right politics in Austria
Living people
People deported from the United Kingdom
Austrian anti-communists
Austrian fascists
Pan-European nationalism
Austrian conspiracy theorists
Anti-Masonry