Money raised for ‘Egg Boy’ to be donated to New Zealand victims

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19 March 2019| 11 Rajab 1440| Al Jazeera

An Australian teen, who egged a far-right senator over his offensive comments about the New Zealand mosque attacks, will donate most of the money raised for his legal fees to the victims of the shootings, according to the fundraising page set up by his supporters.

William Connolly, now known as Eggboi, cracked an egg over Fraser Anning’s head at a press conference in Melbourne on Saturday, prompting the senator to hit him in the face repeatedly.

A day earlier, the controversial politician triggered outrage by claiming the attack in New Zealand, which killed 50 people at two mosques, was the result of Muslim immigration to the country.

Connolly’s act spawned viral memes and drew support from social media users, with one setting up a GoFundMe page with an initial target of 44,000 Australian dollars (about $31,000) to cover “legal fees” and “more eggs”.

The goal was later raised to 50,000 Australian dollars (about $35,500), which has now been surpassed.

An update to the page said: “EggBoi (Will) plans to send a majority of the money to the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack.”

‘Appalling’ comments
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the Queensland senator’s comments as “appalling” and “ugly” with “no place in Australia”.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dubbed Anning a “racist and a fascist”, and encouraged Australians to sign a petition calling for him to be booted out of parliament.

The Change.org petition has amassed 1.2 million digital signatures.

Anning brushed off the backlash on Monday, repeating his claims tying Muslim immigration to “terrorism” and defending his use of violence against the 17-year-old, according to Australia’s ABC media network.

Self-confessed white supremacist Brenton Tarrant , from Australia, has been charged with murder in the Christchurch mass shootings.