A 32-year-old man is facing potential jail time for allegedly using a fake online account to racially abuse Port Adelaide star Jase Burgoyne. Ethan Quinn appeared in Broadmeadows Court on Friday over the alleged incident, which occurred online in July last year.
Veteran journalist Caroline Wilson described the case as an extraordinary story that has bizarrely gone under the radar. Speaking on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters on Tuesday night, she highlighted the exceptional police work by South Australian Police, who traced the alleged fake account from South Australia to Victoria with support from Victorian police.
In an incredible twist, Quinn reportedly works in the Indigenous sector and has done so for many years. Port Adelaide sources say the term vile understates the severity of the alleged abuse, which also targeted family members including Burgoyne's mother.
Initially, Burgoyne was reluctant to pursue the matter, but was convinced by his uncle, former Port Adelaide and Hawthorn superstar Shaun Burgoyne, to take the case to police. The AFL Integrity Unit was very concerned for Jase Burgoyne, but the work was taken over by the police, and there are several heroes in this story, one of them being Shaun Burgoyne, Wilson said.
Quinn did not enter a plea to the charges and is expected to return to court in September. Following the alleged incident, St Kilda superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was also racially abused online the next day. He was encouraged to speak up by strong Indigenous leaders in the game working at St Kilda.
Wilson noted that neither player really wanted to call out the alleged abuse, but they joined forces and did it. They should be lauded the way Michael Long was lauded many years ago and the way we lauded Brad Hill a few weeks ago for standing up to something that made him feel uncomfortable. This is far, far worse and this is a landmark day. The only other time anything like this has gone to court for a sports star is Montrezl Harrell, who played basketball for the Adelaide 36ers.
Wilson expressed amazement that the AFL and the AFL Players' Association are not shouting this from the rooftops. She could not even find it on AFL.com. She said Port Adelaide also deserved recognition for their work behind the scenes, calling it a landmark case particularly at a time when the AFL was concerned about the declining number of Indigenous players. Young Indigenous players are put off that this could happen to their heroes, like Burgoyne and Wanganeen-Milera, but then they see that these people could end up in jail, she said.
Shaun Burgoyne was obviously a great leader in the game, and the case clearly demonstrated why clubs needed strong Indigenous people on their books. In a statement, Port Adelaide acknowledged that a member of the public had been charged by Victoria Police in relation to allegedly racist online abuse directed at their player Jase Burgoyne. Racism has no place in our game or our society. The cowardly nature of this type of behaviour, hiding behind a screen to racially abuse someone, is reprehensible, and we will pursue every available avenue to hold those responsible to account. We respect that this matter is before the courts and will not comment further on the specifics of the case. To Jase, his family, and every First Nations person in our community, we stand with you unconditionally.
