Ku Klux Klan in the Australian Army

YouTube shows Aussie Ku Klux Klan 'soldiers'

THE army is investigating an online video that shows binge drinking and a person parading in a Ku Klux Klan outfit on what appears to be Australian Defence Force property.

The footage, titled "My experience in the Australian Army", shows young men, some in uniform, in a contest to drink alcohol through a long plastic hose they call the "super tube of death".

Several drinkers, whose faces are clearly seen, stagger off and vomit over the railing of a demountable-style building called "Block 651".

The image of a person in a KKK-like outfit is flashed up repeatedly during the video to the amusement of the party.

Defence condemnation

Defence chiefs condemned the video as "abhorrent" and have ordered Provost Marshal investigators to go through the footage frame-by-frame.

"The Australian Defence Force does not tolerate or condone the actions of the people in this video," said Defence spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic.

Serving soldiers could be sacked if found to have been involved in the video, Brigadier Nikolic said.

"The Provost Marshal is currently inquiring into the video to confirm the extent of its linkage to Defence," he said.

"If it is found serving Defence members were responsible for its production and posting on the Internet, they may be subject to disciplinary and or administrative action."

The investigation was launched after The Sunday Mail alerted Defence to the video's presence on the Internet video site YouTube.

The demountable buildings and surrounding geography suggests the video was shot at Robertson Barracks at Palmerston near Darwin, where soldiers have previously faced investigations for drug use and gun running.

'Who is protecting us?'

The army would not confirm where its investigation was focused, but did not deny there were similarities in the video to army property.

The video opens with a distasteful scene shot in a toilet that carries the caption: "When the s..t goes down, who is protecting us?"

Another scene shows a message in fridge magnets which says: "Block 651. Maggot by midday."

Soldiers are permitted to drink in moderation on Defence bases while off duty, but face alcohol and drug testing while on duty.

Brigadier Nikolic said new education campaigns about excessive drinking had ensured there was "not a culture of binge drinking in the military".

"The sort of behaviour we saw in the video is irresponsible consumption of alcohol and is not something condoned in the Australian Defence Force," he said.

Ku Klux Klan revisited

The filming of a person in a white-hooded klan outfit in the "Block 651" video recalls the notorious 2004 photograph of Australian soldiers in KKK regalia standing in front of black recruits at Townsville's Lavarack Barracks.

Black soldiers at Lavarack told investigators that their equipment had been defaced with graffiti and they had been given racist nicknames.

The Klan was a racist body notorious for lynching blacks in the US South.

If confirmed as an army party, the "Block 651" video - which has since been taken off by YouTube, possibly at the Army's request - will be the latest embarrassing glimpse of the Australian military to reach the Internet.

Footage of skylarking Australian soldiers recklessly pointing guns at each appeared on YouTube in September and sparked an investigation and threats of sackings.

Another online video showed a soldier pointing a pistol at a fellow Digger dressed in Arab headdress.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• KKK
• Ku
• Klux
• Klan
• Australia
• racist
• racism
• Aussie

[internetmarketing1]

Gee!!!! That is a amazing piece of journalism!!!! A group of 21 year old Aussie blokes getting pissed and dressing up and blowing off steam. I have never heard of that happening before in Australia. That must have taken a lot of investigative research to uncover.

Thanks Sky News idiots for reporting this important breaking story.

[cru3]

Binge drinking, throwing up and acting like idiots isn't exactly an Army invention for fucks sake. It's Australian males being Australian.

[MynameisElliott]

The only problem with what they did was that they did it wearing their ADF uniforms.

[goofiegoofball]

@cru3 There's a difference between being racist and joking around.

[islandboiitsi]

@cru3 being a fucking raciest and dressing up like those KKK sick cunts isnt being Australian

[anto1191]

They can't drink and let of steam after being shot at and fighting for their country that would be terrible , it might offend some delicate people.PC agenda rampant in the media.

[douglasmoustache]

@canadiannut93 CANADA CAN GO AND FUCK ITSELF!!! I am glad I was pissing and throwing garbage in your country when I came there

[SvalbardJanMayen1976]

BUT_____if they'd dressed up as Black Panthers, that would be ALLRIGHT, right? 

[shcnoozlebop]

@58jtaylor i know....... footballers =.=

[jimbolightningy]

i must say well done australia and evey other military organization

[NCKIUELT]

@canadiannut93 Wow when will you realize that racism is poison to your own soul. Who in their right mind would consider them selves superior on their skin and eyes alone. If you and this Cambodian man where cut open guess what; you both bleed red. Why don't you try already, to overcome the ignorance and limitations that cage your mind.

[NCKIUELT]

@internetmarketing1 Yeah I kind of agree it's not like heaps of youngin's don't drink but the Ku Klux Klan outfit is disgusting!!!