Australian DJ Smokin Joe Mekhael has been found guilty of disrupting the Anzac Day dawn service in Sydney’s Martin Place last year.
As News Corp reports, the beat-dropper was found guilty in court on Tuesday of resisting arrest and committing a nuisance on a war memorial site, but he’s not sorry for his actions.
In fact, speaking outside court, he put the call out for others to follow in his footsteps.
“I call on everyone man, woman and child in Australia and New Zealand to go to your local Anzac Day dawn service to make your voice heard,” Smokin Joe told the cameras.
“I will fight against this evil system until the [sic] day I die.”
Video footage of the 33-year-old’s self-described “peaceful protest” last year was shown to the court and allegedly featured audio of him shouting anti-war comments during the one-minute silence, yelling, “Stop the wars, bring peace to the world.”
The self-described “revolutionary warrior”, who attempted to set a world record in 2011 for the longest continual DJ set, can also be heard saying: “The courageous will never be silent as long as these wars continue”.
Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman sentenced him to a 12 month good behaviour bond and $700 fine for his offences, telling the court: “I consider those words… in that context is to offend. It is offensive because it is behaviour likely to wound the feelings and aroused anger and resentment and outrage in the mind of a reasonable person.”
You can view the footage of DJ Smokin Joe Mekhael’s 2017 protest below.
