Victoria police name man they want to interview in relation to ‘Happy Chanukah’ car fire in St Kilda | Victoria
Victoria police have named a man they want to interview in connection with the suspected arson of a car bearing a “Happy Chanukah” sign in Melbourne on Christmas Day.
Police said emergency services were called to a vehicle displaying a mobile billboard set on fire in the garage of an East St Kilda property at around 2.50am on Thursday.
On Friday, they named 47-year-old John Argento as “an individual who may assist in their investigation.”
Victoria police said Argento was known to police and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on other matters.
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“Detectives believe Argento lives a transient lifestyle. He is known to frequent Melbourne’s inner southern and northern suburbs,” the statement said.
“Detectives are treating this arson as a targeted attack, but there is no indication that Argento poses a particular risk to the Jewish community.”
Police said that there was no one in the vehicle at the time of the incident, but the people in the house were evacuated as a precaution.
Victoria Police’s deputy commissioner for the southern metropolitan area, Chris Gilbert, said he did not believe there was a wider threat to the Jewish community at this stage.
“We understand the devastating impact of such attacks.” [alleged] “The crime is against our Jewish community and we continue to prioritize this investigation.”
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said she had been informed by police about the St Kilda incident on Thursday.
“This is not what any family, street or community deserves to wake up to on Christmas Day in Australia,” he said on X.
“We have a duty to this community: to ensure that their families are safe and that they feel safe, and to work long term in a serious effort to remove antisemitism and hatred from our state.”
The incident comes less than two weeks after 15 people were killed in a mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi beach.
