{"id":567278,"date":"2026-02-05T04:37:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/567278\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T04:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:37:17","slug":"perth-invasion-day-rally-attempted-bombing-declared-terrorist-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/567278\/","title":{"rendered":"Perth Invasion Day rally attempted bombing declared terrorist act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The attempted bombing of an Invasion Day rally crowd in Perth was a terrorist act, authorities have declared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">A 31-year-old man was last week charged with throwing what police described as a homemade &#8220;fragment bomb&#8221;, filled with ball bearings and screws, into the crowd which had gathered in central Perth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">WA Premier Roger Cook today confirmed the man has also been charged with engaging in a terrorist act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">He said it could have become a &#8220;mass casualty event&#8221;, had the bomb exploded.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"EmphasisedText_quote__TE6kn\"><p>&#8220;This charge \u2026 alleges the attack on Aboriginal people and other peaceful protesters was motivated by hateful, racist ideology,&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>  he said.Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The premier said it was the first time such charges had been laid in WA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Mr Cook said people had a right to protest peacefully, and the incident had caused widespread anxiety.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man stands in front of two flags at a press conference\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/d0e50794a5a75f5687a347adb9d87f0c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Roger Cook announces the Invasion Day rally attempted bombing is being deemed a terrorist act. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;I know this event has impacted people Australia-wide and it is deeply felt by our Indigenous communities,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;I know that there is anger. We have every right to be angry.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"EmphasisedText_quote__TE6kn\"><p>&#8220;Any attack on our First Nations people is an attack on all of us.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The man&#8217;s identity has been suppressed by WA&#8217;s courts because of concerns for his safety.<\/p>\n<p>Why can&#8217;t the ABC identify the accused?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\"><strong>There is a court order preventing the publication of information that could identify the man.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowVisible__N2zKU\">\n<li>A 31-year-old man faced court on Tuesday, January 27 charged with one count of committing an unlawful act with intent to harm and one count of making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.<\/li>\n<li>The court put in place a suppression order to conceal the man&#8217;s identity after his defence lawyer raised concerns for his safety.<\/li>\n<li>That includes his name, address and any other identifying particulars.<\/li>\n<li>The legally-binding suppression order also prevents the publication of which custodial facility the man is being held.<\/li>\n<li>He is due to appear in court again in Perth on February 17.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Accused had access to &#8216;pro-white&#8217; material<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Police Commissioner Col Blanch alleged the incident &#8220;was a nationalist and racially motivated, attack \u2026 targeting members of the Aboriginal community, First Nations people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">He said police believed the bomb &#8220;had a fuse that was lit&#8221;, and &#8220;we should all be thankful that we don&#8217;t have deceased or seriously injured people in Western Australia today&#8221; as a result.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A policeman speaks at a press conference\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6714d1e4fcd6b30121736dee2008de35.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Col Blanch said police needed to prove a terrorist act under the law. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The commissioner said authorities, including intelligence agencies, &#8220;had no intelligence \u2026 that this attack was being prepared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">He said there was evidence the man charged had access to &#8220;pro-white male pro-white material online&#8221;, and &#8220;that ideology is prevalent across his access to the internet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Asked if he was communicating with others via Facebook, Commissioner Blanch said &#8220;we understand he&#8217;s accessing and participating in in the ideology, but not having conversations about what was going to happen on January 26th.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">It had taken some time for police to determine the incident reached the threshold of a terror event.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A detective looks at the ground as she walks down a pedestrian mall.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/77aa95b684c2e5e744859da0577e61e3.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">A detective walks down the Murray Street Mall in Perth after the attempted bombing. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;All of us in this room, all of us in our community, would have seen a bomb being thrown into a crowd on Australia Day at an Invasion Day rally as an act of terror,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"EmphasisedText_quote__TE6kn\"><p>&#8220;But to charge someone with a terrorism offence, we need to prove the motivation and the ideology of that person.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>ASIO involved quickly<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett said police would allege the man &#8220;removed a homemade improvised explosive device from his bag and threw it at a rally held in support of First Nations people in Perth&#8217;s CBD.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">She said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the AFP and WA&#8217;s joint counter intelligence team (JCTT) had become involved 36 minutes after the device was thrown into the crowd.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A police officer stands behind a lecturn with a curtain backdrop\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fa13b1817c6cc993b3e6748ef3bffb29.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Krissy Barrett said the terrorism charge was laid on Wednesday. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">An investigation \u2014 Operation Operation Dumfries \u2014 was launched the next day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Commissioner Barrett said the team &#8220;has worked around the clock to determine whether he acted alone&#8221; and deemed there was no ongoing risk to the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">She said the AFP&#8217;s new national security investigations team was in the process of setting up operations in WA, and would target &#8220;those who endanger our social cohesion by promoting hate and violence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;There are individuals and current and emerging groups across Australia, including in the west, which are eroding the country&#8217;s social fabric by advocating hatred, fear, and humiliation that is towards violence, and I am here to put these groups and individuals on notice,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;Today is an update as much as it is a warning. The proof is that an individual is facing life behind bars because of their alleged actions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Call for calm<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy called for calm and community cohesion in the wake of the upgraded charges.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman speaks in front of a lecturn\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/79366785b700e718ca56dfec13ef2eb7.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Malarndirri McCarthy appealed for calm in the community. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;I know that the First Nations community here in Perth and right across Australia are indeed hurting,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;They&#8217;re feeling scared, they feel very angry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">She said healing would take effort and time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;What&#8217;s happened these past couple of months has certainly highlighted the fact that all of us, wherever we are in this country, need to be vigilant and we need to deliberately work towards a social, cohesive community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Speaking in federal parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was &#8220;alleged terrorism driven by racism and hatred&#8221; and could have resulted in &#8220;death, injury, trauma beyond imagining&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;I know that First Nations people around Australia are grappling with that,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;As a government, as a parliament and as a nation we see you and we stand with you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We will do everything required to keep you and your loved ones safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;There is no place for racism, for hatred in our nation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP LiveMoment_text__JbvDx Typography_sizeMobile16__RyQmM Typography_sizeDesktop18__sE9ns Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_light__Oi8NR Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Look back at how ABC readers and other Australians responded to this live<br \/>\n      moment.<\/p>\n<p>8m agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 4:28am<\/p>\n<p>Man allegedly accessed &#8216;pro-white material&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Commissioner Blanch says to meet the conditions of a terror charge, police will allege the man accessed \u201cpro-white material\u201d online, something he says is in abundance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">He says the 31-year-old was self-radicalised, but alleged that Neo-Nazi ideology was prevalent across his internet usage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Commissioner Blanch would not be drawn on any specific groups the man may have had links to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Look, we&#8217;re in the middle of the investigation, but at this point, we understand he\u2019d been accessing and participating in [Neo-Nazism],&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>45m agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 3:51am<\/p>\n<p>WA not divided, premier says<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The WA premier says he still believes the state is <b>a secure and peaceful place<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;You haven\u2019t seen the division spill out into the community the way you have in other parts of Australia, or in particular, other parts of the world,&#8221; Mr Cook says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It is alleged that this individual acted alone, so we obviously reflect on that as well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">But he warned the existence of the internet means hateful ideas and sentiment from across the globe can still seep into WA.<\/p>\n<p>59m agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 3:37am<\/p>\n<p>Malarndirri McCarthy speaks<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Addressing the media conference, the\u00a0<b>Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy\u00a0<\/b>says if there has been a downturn in social cohesion in Australia, it can be reversed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She says history shows that Australians come together in times of crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I guess what I\u2019m urging all Australians to do and think about now is that every day is our time of need. So let\u2019s come together every day,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p>Show moreLoading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The attempted bombing of an Invasion Day rally crowd in Perth was a terrorist act, authorities have declared.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":562853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[10509,247088,4740,240484,91904,29426,247086,16479,247084,247083,247089,239564,240482,247092,239565,50,14737,247082,247087,247085,247080,8631,247081,90715,5343,8632,247090,247091],"class_list":["post-567278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-abc-news","tag-abc-news-perth","tag-australia","tag-australia-day-bomb","tag-bomb-scare","tag-bomb-threat","tag-bomb-thrown-in-perth","tag-explosive-device","tag-forrest-chase","tag-forrest-place-perth","tag-improvised-explosive-device","tag-invasion-day","tag-invasion-day-bomb","tag-invasion-day-coverage","tag-invasion-day-rally","tag-news","tag-perth","tag-perth-attack","tag-perth-bom-australia-day","tag-perth-bomb-australia-day","tag-perth-invasion-day-bomb","tag-perth-news","tag-perth-terror-attack","tag-roger-cook","tag-terrorism","tag-wa-news","tag-what-happened-perth-australia-day","tag-what-happened-perth-invasion-day"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}