Last weekend, an Austrlian teenager won the hearts and minds of people all around the world when he cracked an egg over the head of Fraser Anning, a far-right Australian politician who implied that immigration and “Muslim fanatics” were responsible for the shooting.
Now, William Connolly, 17, a.k.a. “Egg Boy,” (sometimes spelled “EggBoi”) has further endeared himself to the public by announcing that he will donate most of the proceeds of a GoFundMe page set up in his honor to the family members of the Christchurch shooting victims. TheGoFundMe page was created to help fund Connolly’s legal fees after he was arrested for egging Fraser.
According to the organizer of the GoFundMe page, Connolly told him via text that he “plans to send a majority of the money to the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack.” The GoFundMe page in support of Connolly originally said donations would go toward “legal fees” and “buying more eggs.” As of this writing, it has raised more than $50,000.
Egg Boy became a hero on social media last Saturday, when he attended a far-right rally in support of Anning and egged the politician mid-speech. Following the egging, Anning attempted to strike him and Connolly was tackled to the ground by some of the politician’s supporters.
Connolly was later arrested and released without facing any charges, according to Al Jazeera.
Anning, who is well-known for making inflammatory and racist comments, attracted ire on social media with a statement saying that “whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence. Anning added that “the real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today” was the immigration policy that enabled “Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.”
Anning’s statement was prompted by the horrific Christchurch mosque shootings last Thursday, which resulted in 50 people dead and at least 50 wounded. An Australian man, 28-year-old Brenton Harrison Tarrant, has been arrested in connection to the shootings and charged with murder.
Although Connolly has said that he is under strict instructions not to speak out on social media due to the legal proceedings against him, he nonetheless posted a video in which he thanked his fans for their support. The account has since been taken down by Twitter, though some users managed to re-share his video.
In addition the GoFundMe circulating in support of Connolly, there is another petition demanding Anning’s removal from public office. “Senator Fraser Anning’s views have no place in the government of our democratic and multicultural country,” the petition reads. “Within the bounds of Australian law, we request that he be pushed to resign from his position as Senator, and if appropriate, be investigated by law enforcement agencies for supporting right wing terrorism.” It currently has more than 1.2 million signatures.
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