A 31-year-old man has been charged after a potentially explosive device was thrown into a crowd of people at an Invasion Day rally in central Perth yesterday.
Police yesterday evacuated a crowd of peaceful rally attendees about an hour into the protest at Forrest Place, in Perth’s CBD, moving people away from the main stage area.
“You need to move. Your safety is paramount,” an officer told the gathering.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch later told journalists a device had been found near the main stage containing ball bearings, screws and liquid in a glass container.
A man from the northern Perth suburb of Warwick is due to face court later today after spending the night in police custody.
He is charged with intent to do harm in such a way as to endanger life, health or safety, and with making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.
Warwick home searched
Police spent hours searching the man’s home yesterday, with forensic teams present as well as officers in camouflage gear.
Police searched a home in Warwick as part of their investigation into an incident at an Invasion Day rally in Perth. (ABC News)
The ABC understands the national Joint Counter Terrorism Team has been assisting WA Police as a matter of course given the investigation is in its early stages.
Police surged the rally as the incident unfolded yesterday, warning people to leave the area and not panic.
Large sections of Perth’s CBD were cordoned off for about two hours as police kept people away from Forrest Place, which is in the heart of the city’s shopping district.
Neighbour in disbelief
Andy Holler lives in the same neighbourhood in Warwick as the house which police searched overnight and was surprised to hear charges had been laid.
“It’s all very quiet here and everybody’s peaceful, it’s a very simple community,” he said.
Andy Holler says the community is a convivial and peaceful one. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
“We have gatherings here every month at least once down on the street and get on very well.
“I don’t think people are scared, it’s just disbelief really more than anything else.”
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