White supremacist Philip Arps jailed over abusive messages to probation officer

Philip Arps jailed again - this time for sending abusive messages using obscene language to his probation officer. Photo / NZME

A notorious white supremacist has been jailed for four months for sending his probation officer abusive messages.

Philip Arps, who was jailed for spreading disturbing footage of the March 15, 2019 terrorist attacks on two Christchurch mosques, appeared at the city’s District Court on Tuesday for sentencing.

The father of six boys and self-confessed Hitler admirer was charged with three counts of using offensive language and breaching his release conditions.

Stuff reported in February that Arps sent text messages to his probation officers, calling them “worthless”, “fat”, “piss-weak” and “violently disgusting”.

He was convicted of using obscene language and today Arps was sentenced to jail for the offences.

Corrections Southern regional commissioner Glenn Morrison condemned Arps’ behaviour.

“Our staff come to work each day to do a difficult job managing some of the country’s most complex people, both in the community and in prison,” he said in a statement.

“As with anyone else in our employment, their safety is our top priority and they deserve to go about their role without the threat of abuse or assault, regardless of the circumstances.

“While the nature of our work means we cannot fully eliminate the risk posed by those we manage, this case illustrates the serious nature of some of the abuse our staff face.

“I must stress that any abuse or assault on a Corrections employee is unacceptable and when it does occur, we treat this extremely seriously including referring it to police for potential charges.”

In September last year Arps stood for Te Aratai College’s Board of Trustees in Linwood.

Arps received 25 votes (2.6 per cent) and finished in last place. The next successful candidate with the lowest number of votes received 131.

At the time city councillor Sara Templeton said the news came as a “huge relief to me and many others in the school community”.

“This won’t be the last time that someone tries something like this, so it’s still essential the minister and the associate minister should be looking at safeguarding our schools and making any changes to make that happen,” she said.

After Arps joined the race for the board, Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti sought urgent advice about school board elections.

Tinetti said she had also been examining whether legislative changes needed to be made.

She had sought urgent advice about whether the code, which was already being developed, could be tied to someone’s eligibility, she said.

“I want to see whether there’s room for that to strengthen the work of who is eligible or what people can declare when they come through to stand for a board. I’m not sure what that will look like but that’s what I’m seeking.”

In 2020, Arps was jailed for almost two years for getting footage of the mosque shootings doctored with a “Call of Duty” tagline.

And in 2016, he was one of a group of men who filmed themselves doing Hitler salutes as they delivered boxes of pigs heads and offal to the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch.

“White power… Bring on the cull,” Arps was seen saying in the video.

In that case, he was convicted of offensive behaviour and fined $800.