The posters pictured US President Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in Nazi uniforms, among other leaders. Photo: Dissent Café and Bar.
A City Walk bar owner says he’s willing to fight in court after police shut his venue minutes before a gig was about to get underway and seized posters under new Commonwealth hate-symbol laws.
Three officers arrived at Dissent Café and Bar at about 7:15 pm on Wednesday (18 February) after receiving an anonymous complaint about images in the front window. Fifteen minutes later, a crime scene had been declared.
“It was a crime scene – that was their words,” owner David Howe said.
Dissent Café and Bar. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The performance by a Melbourne-based band was cancelled, and patrons were told to leave.
“We were in the middle of getting a gig going, and there were quite a few people toing and froing,” Mr Howe said.
Police later seized five posters and left at about 9:15 pm. No charges have been laid.
What happened
The posters depicted Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Nigel Farage, JD Vance, Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk in Nazi-style uniforms under the title “The Turd Reich”.
“They depicted politicians … in a variety of what appears to be World War II German military attire,” Mr Howe said, adding that the message was antifascist.
“Absolutely, that is the intent, and anybody who would see these posters would recognise that.”
Mr Howe said there were seven posters in total – five in the window, one summary poster inside and one on the printer – all handed over to police.
ACT Policing said officers attended after receiving “a complaint regarding possible hate imagery displayed at a licensed premises”.
“Five posters were subsequently seized and will be considered under recently enacted Commonwealth legislation regarding hate symbols,” a spokesperson said.
“Enquiries in relation to the posters are continuing, including seeking legal advice on their legality.”
Police said they remained committed to addressing alleged antisemitic, racist and hate incidents “promptly and thoroughly”.
The posters were created by UK artist Blam from Grow Up Art. Photo: Dissent Café and Bar.
Mr Howe said he had never previously received a complaint.
“In fact, we have quite a few people who comment on them favourably to us inside the bar,” he said.
He said the works, by UK artist ‘Blam’ from Grow Up Art, had been displayed for several weeks and were part of the venue’s “culture”.
“It’s a statement. I mean, if the shoe fits basically.”
The new laws
The police action was carried out under the Commonwealth’s Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026, passed last month after the Bondi Beach attack.
The laws expand offences relating to prohibited hate symbols, allow police to seize items displayed in public and increase penalties for hate crimes.
Under the legislation, it is an offence to publicly display a prohibited symbol. A police officer may seize an item “if the thing is, depicts or contains a prohibited symbol that is displayed in a public place”.
There are exemptions for “religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary, scientific or journalistic” purposes.
Dissent Café and Bar owner David Howe said he’s willing to fight the police action. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
ACT law also makes it an offence to publicly display a Nazi symbol, punishable by up to 12 months’ jail. But Section 752 of the ACT Criminal Code provides an exception if the symbol is displayed in opposition to fascism or Nazism.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, who came out in support of Dissent, said those exemptions appeared relevant.
“This seems pretty Orwellian to me,” he said.
“ACT law makes it clear that publicly displaying a swastika is not an offence if it’s for artistic purposes or in opposition to fascism. Both exemptions would seem to apply here.
“Art intends to provoke and challenge us.”
He said he had written to the Police Minister seeking an explanation. Meanwhile, ACT Greens member Jo Clay followed up with the ACT Government to find out how it’s “protecting Canberra’s artists and our creative community aren’t unjustly censored again”.
“We cannot stand by and watch art be criminalised – especially when the art itself is condemning fascism,” she said in a Facebook post.
The remaining posters have since been covered with a red ‘censored’ label. Photo: Jo Clay MLA, Facebook.
What’s next
For now, the posters remain in police custody while legal advice is sought.
“I’ve heard absolutely nothing. They’re saying they’re still got to determine whether they’re legal or not,” Mr Howe told Region.
He is seeking his own advice and believes the works fall within artistic and antifascist exemptions.
“I think it is an absolutely unintended consequence. To me, it doesn’t seem like this was the intent of the people who were making the law – to prosecute cases such as this that fall under artistic license or expression.
“If this is genuinely what the law intended, then we’ve got some bigger problems.”
Mr Howe said he was “quite happy” to contest the matter in a court of law.
In the meantime, he says it’s business as usual.
“I guess we just keep on doing it. See what happens.”
