Invasion Day homemade bomb incident in Perth deemed a ‘potential terrorist act’

Outspoken senator Lidia Thorpe has demanded answers after an alleged bombing attempt at an Invasion Day rally on Australia Day that police are now treating as a “potential terror attack”.

Senator Thorpe has condemned the Perth incident as an extreme act of violence, saying it was fortunate no one was injured.

Two days after the incident, police confirmed they were treating the incident as a “potential terrorist act.”

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch earlier described the device as a “homemade bomb”.

“It had the potential to explode and injure many people or kill them,” he said.

“We came very close to potentially a mass casualty.”

Senator Thorpe lashed police response and the time it took police to categorise it as a terror attack.

Earlier this week, Mr Blanch said further investigations would determine if it was a terrorist act.

“To be a terrorist act, we have to determine whether there is a political, religious or ideological motivation, and whether the person taking that act is seeking to advance those causes,” he said.

“That is where we are up to in the investigation.”

Senator Thorpe also and slammed fellow politicians, saying they continued to remain silent whenever there was an attack on Aboriginal people.

“There needs to be a full investigation on policing that day,” the Indigenous independent senator said in a video posted to social media.

“There needs to be answers to this attack on my people.

“There needs to be answers as to what this motivation was, and there needs to be a concerted effort to stamp out white supremacy in this country.

“We have a very big problem with racists and neo-Nazis, who are emboldened every time something is not investigated or something is not taken seriously.”

Senator Thorpe said a lack of political will to confront racism against Aboriginal people meant the Camp Sovereignty attack was not treated as a hate crime or met with a Bondi-style response.

“We need to push this government to do more to stamp out racism in this country and to develop a framework that ensures these attacks, racism and white supremacy are not part of the fabric of this country,” she said.

A 31-year-old man was charged on Tuesday with intent to harm likely to endanger and making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.

In a joint statement by WA Police, the Australian Federal Police and domestic security agency ASIO, they said investigations were ongoing.

“Further charges have not been ruled out,” they said.

“There is no ongoing threat to public safety.”

Anyone with information or vision of the alleged incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

WA Police allege the man threw a homemade bomb into the crowd of more than 2000 people in Perth’s CBD, but it did not explode.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this week called it a “shocking” act.

“They should throw the book at him,” he told media.

“This was an incident that is quite shocking.

“He’s been charged with two serious offences and I look forward to him being prosecuted to the full force of the law.”

Invasion Day event organiser Fabian Yarran said people had been scared when they had to evacuate because of a bomb threat.

Mr Yarran said it was a shameful situation that someone would throw an alleged bomb at the crowd on a day they were mourning.

“We just wanted to reflect on past injustices and things that are happening with Aboriginal people,” he said.

“We were just ashamed and appalled what this person did to target us.

“This has never happened before, and we were quite upset and not happy with that person.”

A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told ABC Perth she saw a sock land near the leg of a girl standing near her.

“It was alarming so I immediately looked up to see where it had come from and then I looked at the object,” she said.

“It was an Elsa sock – the Frozen character Elsa – a kid sock, and inside it was stuff, I don’t know what, but I didn’t touch it.

“There was no smouldering, nothing, but it just seemed odd.

“It was strange that someone would throw an object in the middle of the crowd.”

The woman was concerned someone might step on the object so she handed it to police.

Officers allege a glass container filled with a liquid, ball bearings and screws was found near the front of the stage.

A man was arrested at the scene and was taken into custody while officers swept the area to make sure it was clear of any other devices.

His home was also raided and searched by police on Monday evening.

The man, who cannot be named because his identity has been suppressed, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

His duty lawyer Madison Darch abandoned a bail application but requested the man’s name be suppressed over fears for his safety and for people known to him.

The request was granted by the magistrate and the matter was adjourned until February 17.

Also on Tuesday, WA Police released CCTV footage of the moment the alleged explosive device was thrown into the crowd.

Footage shows a person wearing a black shirt and facial covering throwing an object from the balcony tier above Forrest Chase towards a group of protesters.

They can then be seen running away from the balcony.

The video appears to show the object bounce off the leg of a woman.

The device, which contained ball bearings, screws and liquid in a glass container, was taken for preliminary testing by police forensics teams.

Commissioner Blanch described it as “an improvised explosive device that was viable”.

“It had the potential to explode and injure many people or kill them,” he said.

When asked directly if it was a bomb, Mr Blanch said: “Yes, absolutely. It’s a bomb. A homemade bomb.”

Police believe the man attempted to ignite the device using a wick or similar method, but it failed to detonate.

“We came very close to potentially a mass casualty,” Mr Blanch said.

“I’m not overplaying this. This could have been a mass casualty event.”

Mr Blanch praised the swift response of officers on the ground.

“The Police Forward Commander made a very difficult decision, and he made the absolute right decision to evacuate that area,” he said.

“In the middle of a peaceful protest, we made the decision to save lives if this device had gone off.”

At the time, Mr Blanch said further investigations would determine if it was a terrorist act.

“To be a terrorist act, we have to determine whether there is a political, religious or ideological motivation, and whether the person taking that act is seeking to advance those causes. That is where we are up to in the investigation,” he said.

On Thursday, Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly – who is also a counter-terrorism expert – would not be drawn on her personal views on the investigation.

“I think that I can already see people are making their determinations of whether it is or isn’t a terrorist incident,” she told the ABC on Thursday.

“I note that it is being investigated as a potential terrorist incident, and I think it’s best that we leave that up to our security agencies to determine.”

When asked about her initial reaction, Ms Aly said: “Well, first of all, I guess it was relief … that nobody was hurt.”

“When you throw an IED, an improvised explosive device, into a crowd, and if it’s a successful, it could have been a mass casualty attack,” she said.

“So the huge relief that nobody was hurt. But also horror at the fact that this could occur in Perth and in Australia generally.”