Perth FIFO worker who praised Bondi gunmen pleads guilty to racism, weapons charges
A Perth man who made social media posts supporting gunmen who attacked a Jewish community at Bondi Beach in December has pleaded guilty to racism and weapons charges.
Martin Glynn, 39, of Yangebup, is accused of making a post on his Instagram account in support of the mass murder, a terrorist attack inspired by the anti-Semitic Islamic State.
Glynn was arrested and detained after WA Police launched Operation Dalewood in response to the shooting in a bid to stamp out extremist and racist motivated behaviour.
During a search of his property, handwritten notebooks titled “Ideology, views, ideas and insights” containing extreme views about Jews were discovered.
Flags of the terrorist organization, including Hezbollah and Hamas flags, were also found, along with a pocket knife, six rifles and 4,000 rounds of ammunition owned by a mine site worker who was legally entering and exiting.
The firearms were seized and the man’s hunting gun license is now under review under WA’s strict new gun laws which can strip an unfit or unfit person of their firearms licence.
Glynn, who has no criminal record, was charged with racially abusive conduct, carrying or possessing a prohibited weapon and failing to properly store a firearm and appeared at Fremantle Magistrates’ Court via video link from prison on Tuesday.
He pleaded guilty to all five charges against him.
WA Police previously claimed Glynn was flying a Palestinian flag outside his home, causing concern among neighbours, and when they looked at his phone they found footage of him trying to make a smoke bomb.
Glynn maintained that he collected flags and had more than 50 of them.
He said in his social media posts that he was a supporter of the Palestinian people.
“Yes, I am a doomsday prepper, I have downloaded information, I had time, I had money, but I did not intend to harm anyone, I did not procure anything,” he said during his first appearance in court in December.
“I keep it to myself, my neighbors don’t know me very well, I’ve never had any problems with the law. I’m not a violent person, quite the opposite.”
Glynn’s actions were reported to police by a member of the public.
Following his arrest, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked WA Police for their rapid response.
“I was briefed by the AFP Commissioner and the WA acting premier about the latest arrest in WA,” he said.
“I appreciate the work of WA Police in quickly identifying this individual and taking immediate action.
“Federal agencies have offered full support to WAPOL through the Joint Counterterrorism Team [WA Police].”
WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said any dangerous, threatening or hateful behavior should be reported to authorities.
“We’ve got almost three million eyes out there, everybody could be watching, not just the police, everybody, the entire Western Australian community could be watching these types of posts that talk about threats to our community,” he said.
Glynn will be sentenced at Fremantle Magistrates’ Court on June 25.
