Shocking though it was, I was not at all surprised that two men from a particular community in Sydney gunned down innocent Australians enjoying a picnic. The signs were all over the place, in Australia and throughout Europe, especially in countries with large migrant populations from the Middle East.
We’ve had fifty years of terrorism. We know what it is and where it comes from. It was simply to be expected that two men would emerge from the protection of that community and, with relish, kill innocent people.
You would have to be culpably naive or partisan not to realise that others with the same views and intentions were residing in that same community – and planning for action.
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PhD candidate Sepehr Saryazdi, accused of planning terror attack on Australia Day, denied bail
- By Talissa Siganto, ABC
A CSIRO PhD candidate accused of planning to use Molotov cocktails in a terror attack on the Gold Coast on Australia Day has been denied bail.
Sepehr Saryazdi appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday after being charged with one count of acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act.
During a bail application, the court heard the 24-year-old had been brought to the attention of counter terrorism officers after information was received about things he was allegedly posting online.
Commonwealth prosecutor Ellie McDonald told the court the alleged offending related to Facebook messenger chats within a private group containing over 50 people.
Ms McDonald told the court he had allegedly also encouraged others to do the same.
“He says: ‘I will be leading the Gold Coast riots on Jan 26 if you guys know people in Melbourne, let them know so they can start buying vodka bottles early to stockpile in batches,'” she said.
“He also states: ‘if arrested the key is to stay calm and collected, when put into questioning remind them what you did is purely logical given the current trajectory of this nation.'”
Ms McDonald told the court he also allegedly told the group members they “need to make the police doubt their own world views and convince them to quit their job”.