An Australian lawmaker who blamed Friday's deadly attacks on two mosques in New Zealand on Muslim immigration was hit on the head with an egg in Melbourne on Saturday.
As Senator Fraser Anning was briefing reporters at a meeting of his Conservative National Party in Melbourne, a teenager approached him and smashed an egg on his head, according to a video on the senator's Facebook page.
The senator turned around and immediately hit the teenager in the face twice. Bystanders joined him in knocking the teenager to the ground and holding him down until police arrived and arrested him. The 17-year-old was later released, according to a police spokesperson.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday that Anning should be charged for hitting the teenager. “The full force of the law should be applied to Senator Anning," Morrison said.
Senator Anning was widely criticized for a tweet he shared following the attacks in Christchurch. “The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place," the senator wrote.
This is not the first controversial statement for which Anning, who was elected as a senator from Queensland in 2017, has gained notoriety. In August 2018, he called for the end of Muslim immigration to Australia using a Nazi term for genocide. "The final solution to the immigration problem, of course, is a popular vote," he told the Australian parliament.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old has been hailed as a hero on social media and nicknamed #EggBoy for his role in opposing Islamophobia.