Western Australian authorities have announced that an incident targeting an Invasion Day rally in the heart of Perth is now being investigated as a terrorism case, marking a first for the state.
On Thursday, WA Premier Roger Cook revealed that the 31-year-old individual, who was previously charged in connection with the January 26 incident, will now face an additional charge of engaging in a terrorist act.
This marks the inaugural instance of someone being charged with this specific offense in Western Australia.
Cook addressed the media, acknowledging the widespread concern, particularly among Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.
“This incident has resonated across the nation, profoundly affecting our Indigenous communities,” Cook stated. “There is a justified sense of anger, and we must recognize that any assault on our First Nations people is an assault on us all.”
“Any attack on our First Nations people is an attack on all of us.”
The man was previously charged with making or possessing an explosive, and committing an act with intent to cause harm.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) alleges the man removed a homemade improvised explosive device from his bag and threw it at a rally held in support of First Nations people in Perth’s CBD on 26 January, where 2,500-strong crowd was marching.
The device did not detonate. Specialist officers from the WA Police Bomb Response Unit and forensic teams had confirmed that the device was a “fragment bomb”, using volatile chemicals designed to explode on impact.
CCTV footage released by WA Police shows a man throwing the glass object in Forrest Place, which narrowly misses attendees, before running away.
WA Police allege the man was “self-radicalised”, acted alone and had access to “pro-white male” material online.
“And as we all know it, sadly, it’s in abundance,” WA Police commissioner Col Blanch said.
“That ideology is prevalent across his access to the internet.
“I think we’d all be kidding ourselves if we don’t see what’s happening online and some of the hate speech towards Aboriginal people, towards any vulnerable community in this country.”
AFP commissioner Krissy Barrett said the threshold for a terrorism offence under the Criminal Code had been met — including that the action is done with the intention of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, and the action is done with the intention of coercing or influencing a government by intimidation or intimidating the public.
She said First Nations Australians had the right to peaceful protest without threats of violence.
“The AFP, our security and law enforcement partners will use all our powers, capabilities and resources to ensure hate and violence are not used as weapons to silence communities,” Barrett said.
“There are individuals and current and emerging groups across Australia, including in the West, which are eroding the country’s social fabric by advocating hatred, fear and humiliation that is mobilising towards violence, and I am here to put these groups and individuals on notice.”
Blanch urged members of the public to alert authorities if they see suspicious behaviour, saying intelligence had no prior knowledge of the preparation of the alleged attack.
“I hope our phones run hot from now onwards about what they are seeing and hearing,” he said.
“So if you are thinking of doing that, we’re coming, and we’re coming fast.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the alleged attack was aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
“This was alleged terrorism driven by racism and hatred. Hate that should have been banished to the dark reaches of history yet still lives in the dark corners of the internet,” he told parliament.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said Australians need to be “alert”.
“We need to care for one another. We need to be kinder to one another, and we need to be … alert to those in our society who are choosing to do the opposite,” McCarthy said.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley also condemned the alleged attack.
“We can never accept a situation where we turn to violence to settle our political differences,” she said.
The man is expected to appear next in Perth Magistrates Court on 17 February, when the Commonwealth terrorism charge will be heard.
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