Benjamin Homan, 23, pleaded guilty to one charge of affray and one charge of resisting arrest when he appeared in Downing Centre Local Court today.
“I would like to sincerely apologise to the community and the police for my actions,” Homan told the court.
He was one of the first to admit to charges of criminal behaviour during a demonstration that turned violent in Sydney’s CBD on September 15. The protest was sparked by the US-produced YouTube film Innocence of Muslims.
The court heard Homan faced up to to 10 years in prison for both offences.
His Legal Aid lawyer Zaid Khan said the recent convert to Islam was “impressionable and vulnerable to the more extreme elements on the day”.
Mr Khan also said that in a letter to the court “his dad speaks of a softly spoken and gentle young man”.
But prosecutor Matthew Baker said Homan’s “right to express his displeasure … ended at such a time when he decided to join the violence”.
The magistrate adjourned the matter for sentencing on Thursday.
Omar Halaby, 18, pleaded guilty in the same court earlier today to smashing the windscreen of a police vehicle with a milk crate.
He also presented the police prosecutor with a $500 money order for the cost of repairing the vehicle.
Halaby covered his head with a blue jumper as he ran out of the court building to evade waiting journalists and cameramen.
His matter will come before court for sentencing on October 29.
Two other co-accused also appeared in the same court.
Mohammed Issaka, 43, pleaded not guilty to rioting, resisting arrest and assaulting police.
Abdullah Traljesic, 40, pleaded not guilty to hindering police, assaulting police and kicking a police dog.
Their matters will be back in the same court on November 30.