‘Hate disruptors’ make wave of arrests over threats to politicians
In just one month, four people have been arrested by federal “hate-busting” squads for threats against federal politicians, while a provincial town in NSW has been bombarded with leaflets calling for “comeback”, the latest far-right code word for ethnic cleansing.
The Australian Federal Police’s National Security Investigations (NSI) team arrested two men on Saturday over unrelated threats to MPs in Western Australia and Queensland.
Police allegedly linked a 47-year-old man from Bayswater, Perth, to his social media post about the murder of a politician and searched his home on Friday.
The man was charged with two counts of using a transport service with intent to threaten to kill or cause serious harm; If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
He is scheduled to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on August 21.
A second investigation launched by NSI earlier this month tracked threatening voicemails sent to parliamentarians to a 57-year-old man from Coomera on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Police raided his home on Thursday and allegedly found evidence on his phone. The suspect, accused of threatening a public official, will appear in court in Southport on August 17.
NSI teams, established last October, were called “hate busters” by AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett.
“History has taught us that hate creates a tolerant environment that can lead to violent extremism and terrorism, and recent events have reinforced that,” Barrett said in December.
“There are groups and individuals across Australia who are eroding the social fabric of the country by advocating hatred, fear and contempt.”
Both the AFP and NSW Police are hunting the prolific serial letter writer whose threats have threatened politicians for a decade.
“Scorpio” or “BuLLiT” is believed to be a white man in his 60s who wrote more than 100 letters.
He often signs them with a stamp made of red and black ink on the back of the Winchester cartridge case.
Authorities Screenshots of Scorpio’s letters have been published On June 30, they said they had approached the author, but so far no arrests had been made yet.
Earlier this month, NSI officers charged a 47-year-old man from the Sydney suburb of Colyton in connection with a foreign embassy bomb hoax.
It was claimed that methamphetamine and a phone were seized during the search on July 9.
On the same day, the NSI raided a house in Woolgoolga, near Coffs Harbor in the north of the state, following threats against another federal MP.
A 53-year-old man has been charged after allegedly making threatening threats on social media.
“Public servants deserve the ability to carry out their duties without facing the threat of harm,” AFP Acting Superintendent Fleur Jennings said in a statement on Saturday.
“The AFP has the resources and technology to detect and identify criminals who threaten MPs and senior officials and bring them to court.”
Joint Counter Terrorism Teams, also in July, brought the two men to preliminary court following separate investigations into violent extremist material.
A 51-year-old man is alleged to have been sharing violent videos and propaganda from Islamist terror groups from his home in Pacific Pines, Queensland.
A second 19-year-old man was also charged as part of this investigation and released on bail.
A 20-year-old man from northern NSW also appeared in court charged with advocating terrorism after terrorism squads found weapons and ammunition as well as online posts advocating terrorism.
Political extremism has become a major public priority for law enforcement and politicians since the attacks on Bondi Beach in December.
NSI teams alone had charged 14 people in the two months before the attack.
Last week, Hunter MP Dan Repacholi condemned “racist nonsense” leaflets calling for the removal of Indian Australians from the town of Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley.
“We have already seen local doctors being harassed and targeted with racist comments. Now cowards are spreading this hateful nonsense throughout our community,” Repacholi wrote online.
The leaflet, distributed by a Sydney-based white nationalist political movement, voiced support for a “return rally” to be held in September.
Repatriation is a far-right code word for ethnic cleansing through the forced deportation of people of color from countries of European heritage.
Re-immigration, which has its origins in the displacement of Jews after World War II, has become a lightning rod in European and American politics since 2023.
Activists in these countries advocate for the deportation of even naturalized citizens or people born in traditionally white nations to their ancestral homelands.
Leaflets in Kurri Kurri were distributed by a group that admitted members of “European stock only”.
