By Lauren Rearick
A 17-year-old Australian student who tossed a single egg at an Australian politician who made xenophobic, anti-Muslim remarks after the terrorist attack that targeted two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, once again proved that not all heroes wear capes.
In March, Will Connolly went viral — and earned the nickname Egg Boy — after he tossed a single egg at the back of Australian politician Fraser Anning’s head while the then-Senator held a press conference about the mass shootings where terrorists killed 51 people, many of them refugees and immigrants. On Tuesday, May 28, Will made good on his promise to help others by donating $100,000 AUD to the Christchurch Foundation and Victim Support.
After the egging happened, video footage of Will’s act immediately went viral. The incident later led to a police investigation into the 17-year-old; he was released without charge, but supporters created two GoFundMe pages to help pay for Will’s possible legal fees and to purchase “more eggs,” Time notes.
Will had previously remarked that he intended to give the crowdfunded donations to charity.
“For those of you who don’t know, there were 2 Go Fund Me pages set up to help cover the cost of my legal fees and to ‘buy more eggs’,” he wrote on Instagram. “Gratefully, Gordon Legal acted probono [sic] for me so I don’t have any legal fees. I decided to donate all monies to help provide some relief to the victims of the massacre.”
He noted that the money “wasn’t mine to keep” and he expressed a desire for the funds to “bring some relief” to those affected by the shootings.
The person to blame for the March 15 shooting is facing charges of committing a “terrorist act,” and an additional 51 charges of murder and 40 charges of attempted murder, CNN reports.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned the act of terrorism; Prime Minister Ardern also called Anning’s comments “appalling;” he had chosen to victim-blame those affected by hate crimes by falsely suggesting that Muslim people could be to blame for the ways other people target them. The senator later lost his bid for reelection.
In his first appearance following the egging, Will said that his choice of using an egg to make a statement was “not the right thing to do,” NBC News reports. However, he did believe that the action led to some good. “This egg has united people and money had been raised — tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those victims,” he said.
