A senior member of a far-right white supremacist group has taken his own life while facing charges over an ambush at an Indigenous encampment in Melbourne.
National Socialist Network member Timothy Lutze, 36, was expected to face court over the attack at Camp Sovereignty in August last year.
A spokesman for the Melbourne’s courts confirmed to news.com.au that the charges had been withdrawn and the matter finalised.
The Victorian County Court confirmed on Tuesday morning that Mr Lutze had died during a directions hearing in relation to the Camp Sovereignty incident.
The former gym owner and boxer was a senior member of the now-disbanded NSN alongside Thomas Sewell and white supremacist Nathan Bull.
Sewell and Bull had their bail conditions altered on Tuesday so that they could attend Mr Lutze’s funeral on Wednesday.
An online obituary prompted several tributes.
‘Before all this, he was a boxing trainer. He’s a good bloke. Different political opinions should never warrant any harm,’ one man commented.
National Socialist Network member Timothy Lutze (pictured at a previous court appearance) has taken his life at age 36
The senior member of a far-right white supremacist group had been facing charges over an ambush at an Indigenous encampment in Melbourne
Mr Lutze’s death was discussed online last week, where a member of the white supremacist group in Western Australia called for ‘respect’ and for the death not to be discussed.
‘I jumped in here because I was told you were talking about a certain death,’ he said.
‘For respect of the community … today I was told stuff … it’s meant to be (kept quiet), I want to ask for respect until the end of September.
‘Our community is dealing with this and several weddings and I was disgusted to see some left-leaning people literally parading around his face while his body was still warm.’
The NSN announced earlier this year that the group was disbanding its operations to avoid impending federal hate speech laws.
There are unfounded claims that members of the group believe that Mr Lutze took his life following ‘continued harassment’ from authorities.
He took to encrypted app Telegram last month after a boxing coach was suspended for allowing Mr Sewell to train at his gym.
‘This is the only way to keep your gym and boxing licences,’ Mr Lutze wrote.
‘The only other option is to be honest and lose everything. To some, honour is more important.’
The former gym owner and boxer (pictured right) was a senior member of the now-disbanded National Socialist Network
Tim Lutze shared images of his wife’s blue Holden Commodore being consumed in a fireball outside his Werribee home in Melbourne’s west on Christmas Eve in 2023
In December 2023, Mr Lutze shared images of his wife’s blue Holden Commodore being consumed in a fireball outside his Werribee home in Melbourne’s west on Christmas Eve.
‘Last night, left-wing terrorists firebombed my pregnant wife’s car while I was sleeping in the middle of the night,’ he said in a video.
‘(They) threw Molotov cocktails, other ones were found in the front yard.
‘My children were sleeping inside at the time, we were woken up by it, the neighbours came running out in the street, and they (the offenders) basically just ran off into the night.
‘It’s lucky there is a close community here all the neighbours came out and helped.’
Mr Lutze accused anti-fascist activists of being behind the attack.
‘These people have no honour attacking a home where children and a pregnant woman are sleeping,’ he said.
‘The media push this narrative that we’re violent and that we’re terrorists when we are the polar opposite of that.
‘We remain peaceful at all times we only have terrorism committed against us.’
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