Australian Egg Boy Says "This Egg United People" In First Interview

Will Connolly, who egged an anti-Muslim Australian politician, finally speaks.
fraser anning

After the horrific massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, an Australian politician issued a statement accusing Muslim immigrants of bringing the violence on themselves. Shortly after, a teenager smashed him with egg. Senator Fraser Anning promptly slapped seventeen-year-old Will Connolly in the face. Then several of Anning's right-wing supporters tackled Connolly and pinned him to the ground in a choke-hold, because apparently it takes multiple grown wannabe fascists to subdue a single non-resisting teenager.

Connolly was arrested and very quickly released, and police are still weighing if they'll bring charges against Connolly, Anning, or Anning's supporters who were involved. But the video soon went viral, and the Internet hailed Connolly as the hero in the exchange because, not the least because Fraser is an open racist who frequently says despicable things about immigrants that are just short of calls for ethnic cleansing. A GoFundMe to pay for Connolly's legal fees (and more eggs) raised over $50,000, and he's been offered a free trip to Turkey on top of unlimited beer if he's ever in Canada. It's an embarrassment of riches for someone who isn't even old enough to drink in Australia of all places, but missing from all of this has been Connolly himself, who was silent about the viral encounter until an interview that aired on the Australian television show The Project on Sunday night.

Among the revelations is that this isn't the first time he's been called "Egg Boy"—he picked up the moniker in school for eating a notable amount of hard-boiled eggs. Connolly apparently went to hear Anning speak to give the senator a second chance, to see if the way his horrible statements sound were as he intended them. (It's not clear when Connolly picked up the egg though.) He also says he's distressed that so much international attention is on him and not the victims, and that he plans to give all the money raised for him to their families.

“This egg has united people, and, you know, money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for those victims,” Connolly said, adding, “I’ve had one lady reach out to one of my friends in Christchurch, and she said to me that throughout this period of darkness in her life was the one time since she smiled since the tragedy, and that, I’m speechless."