Jack van Tongeren

Peter Joseph Van Tongeren
Born (1947-12-14) 14 December 1947 (age 76)
Netherlands
Other namesJack van Tongeren
Known forArson attacks against Asian-owned businesses, distribution of anti-Asian flyers
Parent(s)Rudi van Tongeren
Stella van Tongeren
AllegianceAustralian Nationalist Movement (1985–2007)
Motivewhite supremacist ideology
Conviction(s)arson, assault, theft, conspiracy
Criminal penalty18-year sentence (1989)
2-year suspended sentence (2006)
Accomplice(s)John Van Blitterswyk[1]
Details
Span of crimes
1985–2004
CountryAustralia
State(s)Western Australia
Target(s)6+ restaurants arsoned
1+ restaurant fire-bombed
Date apprehended
August 1989, 2004
Military career
Allegiance Australia
Service / branchAustralian Army
Years of service1971–1975[2][3]
Unit6 Platoon, B Company, 2 RAR/NZ[4]
Battles / warsVietnam War

Peter Joseph "Jack" van Tongeren (/væn ˈtɒŋərən/ van TONG-ər-ən, Dutch: [ˈpeːtər ˈjoːzə fɑn ˈtɔŋərə(n)];[a] born 14 December 1947) is the former leader of the West Australian Neo-Nazi group Australian Nationalist Movement (ANM), a white supremacist and far-right group, and a successor organisation called the Australian Nationalist Worker's Union (ANWU). He served 13 years, one month, and six days in prison from 1989 to 2002 for theft and arson, having robbed and firebombed businesses owned by Asians in Western Australia. In the late 1980s it was revealed Van Tongeren's father was of part-Javanese ancestry. Nevertheless, Van Tongeren resumed anti-Asian activities upon his release in 2002, leading to further convictions, in 2006.[5]

  1. ^ "White supremacist jailed over bomb plot". The Australian. 24 May 2007.
  2. ^ Van Tongeren 2004, p. 20-21.
  3. ^ Fox, Vashti (2 February 2022). "Far-right terror: Perth's 1980s 'fascist revolution' | Red Flag". Red Flag. Socialist Alternative.
  4. ^ Van Tongeren 1999, p. 20.
  5. ^ "Anti-Asian Crusader on Dole". The West Australian. 12 August 1987. p. 1.


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