White supremacist Jacob Hersant to appeal one-month jail sentence ...

A white supremacist who was the first Victorian found guilty of performing an illegal Nazi salute in public has been jailed for one month.

Jacob Hersant, a prominent neo-Nazi and member of the National Socialist Network, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday morning.

"The white man is not superior to any other race of people," Magistrate Brett Sonnet said.

Hersant's lawyer Tim Smartt said his client would be appealing both the conviction and the sentence in the County Court.

Hersant was taken to the cells of the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, but was then told he would be released on bail until the appeal takes place.

Hersant made the Nazi gesture in front of journalists and camera operators outside the County Court on October 27, 2023.

It occurred days after the Victorian Government passed laws banning public Nazi salutes.

Hersant quickly lowered his arm and said, "Oh, nearly did it, it's illegal now isn't it?"

"Australia for the white man, heil Hitler."

Jacob Hersant is the first person found guilty of breaking a new Victorian law which bans the Nazi salute in public.  (AAP: Con Chronis)

Hersant fought the charges, but his lawyers failed in a bid to convince the magistrate that the laws were constitutionally invalid and that Hersant's gesture did not fit the description of a Nazi salute.

On Friday, Hersant was supported in court by his mother and tapped his foot nervously, but smiled when the magistrate labelled Adolf Hitler as "an embodiment of evil".

"The performance of the Nazi gesture is a virulent display of hate speech," Magistrate Sonnet said.

"You took advantage of the media to disseminate extreme political views."

Magistrate Sonnet said Hersant, 25, would be jailed for one month, noting that a monetary penalty was unlikely to deter him from re-offending.

Jacob Hersant spoke to reporters after he was released on bail. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)

After being found guilty last month, Hersant has continued to post racist videos on social media and attend public rallies where members of his group have clashed with police.

He has also told his supporters not to send him money, because his lawyers' fees were taxpayer-funded through Legal Aid.

Hersant previously spent three days in custody over a separate incident, when he and other white supremacists attacked a group of hikers in Victoria's Cathedral Ranges.

Thomas Sewell (left) and Jacob Hersant (right) previously pleaded guilty over an incident in the Cathedral Ranges State Park in which a group of hikers was attacked at knifepoint. (AAP Image: James Ross)

On that occasion, a County Court judge ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, and warned Hersant that he could be hauled back before the courts to be re-sentenced if he committed a jailable offence within 14 months.

It took Hersant a matter of minutes to break the law again.

As he left the County Court, he performed a Nazi salute in full view of television cameras and photographers.

In early 2021, Hersant racially vilified a black security guard outside Channel Nine's Melbourne headquarters, before fellow neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell physically attacked the man. 

Sewell was spared jail for that assault, but later spent six months in custody after the Cathedral Ranges incident.

Thomas Sewell confirmed to reporters outside court that he was facing charges. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)

On Thursday, Victoria Police announced a targeted crackdown on the National Socialist Network, saying four of its members had been charged with offences.

Two women were allegedly harassed, and a police officer and their family member allegedly threatened by group members.

Outside court on Friday, Sewell confirmed he was one of the people charged with intimidating an officer and said he would be fighting the charges.