‘Egg boy’: Fraser Anning attack was wrong, but it united community

Will Connolly, dubbed ‘Egg Boy’ after he smashed an egg on Senator Fraser Anning’s head, has broken his silence, telling The Project it was wrong, but says his infamous egging united the community in the wake of the Christchurch massacre.

The 17-year-old was filmed breaking an egg on the senator’s head while he spoke at an event in Melbourne’s southeast earlier this month, before he was struck by the Queensland MP and wrestled to the ground by his supporters.

Speaking to The Project‘s Hamish Macdonald on Monday night, the teenager said violence wasn’t the answer.

“I understand what I did was not the right thing to do. I can understand why some people would react the way they did,” Connolly said. “There is no reason to physically attack anyone.

“However, this egg has united people. Money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those [Christchurch] victims.”

Connolly said he was angered by senator Anning’s statement that appeared to blame the New Zealand terror attack on the Islamic community.

“After the tragedy in Christchurch, I thought the world should be supporting all those victims and giving them love and compassion. The senator released a statement, which was a divisive hate speech blaming the victims for the attack and I was just flat out disgusted,” he said.

The teenager said he had listened to the senator speak for an hour before deciding to egg him.

“Not many people know this, but I actually went in there to listen to him for an hour to see if he could change my mind. In my mind, I wanted to forgive him but then he started saying some more things… which empowered me to egg him.”

Read more: Senator Fraser Anning punches teen in head after boy eggs him at press event

A fundraising campaign was started in support of Connolly and to date has raised more than $79,000. The teenager said he will donate the money to victims of Christchurch massacre.

“It’s going to help people affected by the tragedy in Christchurch, every cent.”

Have you been following this story? Do you think Will Connolly did the right thing?