Rukshan Fernando

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Rukshan Fernando
Rukshan Fernando 20211120 1.png
Fernando at a protest in 2021
Born
1984or1985(age 39–40)
Alma mater Victoria University
Occupation(s)Videographer and photographer

Rukshan Fernando (born 1984or1985), [1] also known as Real Rukshan, is a Sri Lankan-Australian videographer and wedding photographer known for his favourable coverage of the anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown movement in Australia. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Personal life and education

Fernando was born to a Sri Lankan migrant couple. [1] He went to school at Dandenong, Victoria [5] and studied law at Victoria University. [5] [1] Fernando lives in Melbourne's south-east. [1]

Career

Fernando co-founded Ferndara, a wedding photography business based in Melbourne. [6] [5] As of 2014, Fernando and his team have travelled to Sri Lanka to film weddings. [6]

In 2020, Fernando became known for creating memes mocking Premier Dan Andrews. [5] [1] He provided live coverage of the anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne; he said that he did not endorse the views of the protestors. [1] He has been viewed as a hero by supporters of Melbourne's anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protests. [1] [3]

In 2022, Fernando travelled to New Zealand with far-right activist Avi Yemini. [2] [7] Yemini was refused entry to New Zealand on character grounds. [2] However, Fernando was allowed into New Zealand, and filmed a glowing tribute to an anti-government rally led by COVID-19 conspiracy theorist Chantelle Baker. [2]

Views

Fernando supports U.S. president Donald Trump and his false claim that the 2020 U.S. election was stolen. [2] [5] He is a fan of American right-wing conspiracy theorists Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec and Andy Ngo. [5] Fernando is a climate change denier. [5] In 2019, he promoted a conspiracy theory that U.S. politician Ilhan Omar had married her brother. [5] [8]

Fernando supported Dan Andrews when the first COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020. Later that year, he said in an interview with Fox News personality Laura Ingraham that Victoria was becoming like "Communist China". [1] The Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun listed Fernando among the top 100 superspreaders of misinformation. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O'Neil, Patrick (25 September 2021). "Who is the Real Rukshan?". The Age . Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Elliott, Tim (17 February 2023). "'He's exploiting people who are genuinely scared': Avi Yemini and the art of outrage". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Parliament protest: Aussie far-right conspiracy commentators to attend, claims influencer". The New Zealand Herald . 14 May 2024. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Andy (23 September 2021). "Constructing a narrative: the CFMEU protest and the far right". Overland Literary Journal . Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wilson, Cam (24 September 2021). "Real Rukshan: the live streamer who took Melbourne's protest to the world stage". Crikey . Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 Ma, Laura (23 December 2014). "Filmmakers release amazing three-minute Sri Lanka tour". CNN . Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  7. ↑ McGowan, Michael (24 September 2021). "Workers' rights or the far right: who was behind Melbourne's pandemic protests?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Fernando, Rukshan [@therealrukshan] (5 November 2019). "Yeah but he didn't, this ungrateful crim Omar has married a sibling to commit immigration fraud" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 September 2021 – via Twitter.
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