Perth Mosque in Northbridge vandalised a day after alleged ‘mass casualty’ terror attack foiled
WA Police were searching for CCTV footage that could help them track down the person who vandalized a Perth mosque on Saturday, a day after a planned “mass casualty” terror attack targeting public buildings and Muslim places of worship was thwarted.
The incident in Northbridge occurred hours after police said that through intelligence, particularly in relation to the use of encrypted messaging app Telegram, they were able to locate and arrest 20-year-old Jayson Joseph Michaels, from the Wheatbelt town of Bindoon, on Friday and charge him with preparing an act of terrorism.
They allege that Michaels, motivated by a white supremacist ideology, wrote a manifesto-style document outlining plans for an ideologically motivated attack on violent extremism.
Allegations include that he planned to target the Muslim community through attacks on mosques, as well as attacks on WA Police and parliament.
On Saturday, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said he believed Michaels was part of a terrorist group identified via Telegram, which included international members as well as other Australians who have not yet been identified.
“This is the work that is currently being carried out as part of the counter-terrorism team’s joint investigation to contain all these messages and examine them one by one,” he said.
“So if you know that you are in that message group, if you are someone who has participated in those conversations, you can expect that there will not be a knock on your door, put it that way.”
He said so far the group’s members do not appear to be affiliated with any far-right groups.
“All we can see is a like-minded group, white supremacist groups, talking about their hatred for other people in our society,” he said.
“Our focus right now is on understanding who is in this messaging group, but early indications are that there is no hierarchy, no structure, no organization.”
He said Michaels had no criminal record and was not previously known to police.
Blanch’s comments came as he stood alongside WA Premier Roger Cook, acting Attorney-General Paul Papalia, minister John Carey and senior Islamic leaders who met at the Perth Mosque in Northbridge and spoke for nearly an hour “to reassure them that we condemn these potential activities”.
“We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that they feel that they can fully express their religion, their beliefs, their culture in a tolerant, welcoming and safe community,” Cook said.
“We enjoy an incredible amount of social harmony, peace and security, and we will defend this at all costs.”
Cook said he claimed Friday’s actions crossed the threshold of a terrorist attack.
“Terrorism is an act of hatred, of division, that seeks to undermine our sense of security, to make us afraid to pray, to be who we are, and so my government and I will do everything we can to ensure that we eradicate that in Western Australia and continue to celebrate who we are,” he said.
Imam Mohammed Shakeeb said he had an “honest conversation” with the prime minister about language and divisive rhetoric in parliament, and addressed Pauline Hanson’s Sky News interview: “How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
“I expressed my concerns to the Prime Minister that if any of us had said something similar, like I don’t think there are good Christians, no sane person would have said that,” Shakeeb said.
“Likewise, [if someone said] I don’t think there are any good First Nations people; I don’t think there are good Jews. Think of the legal repercussions, imagine the disgrace. But still, you know, Islamophobia has become so normalized that it has become mainstream.”
The leaders entered the gates of the Perth Mosque, which was vandalized with graffiti using a white substance that police said was “not suspicious”.
Shakeeb said officers came to the mosque after the chaos at the mosque around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning. The matter was referred to the State Security Investigation Group.
