A 16-year-old Bunbury boy has been charged with allegedly making violent threats against a newly opened Sydney mosque on social media, including references to the 2019 mass shootings in Christchurch. WA Police say an investigation will determine if the boy had been radicalised, but there is no ongoing threat.
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00:00A police presence at a place of worship after a violent threat.
00:07This newly opened Sydney mosque targeted on social media, they accused a teenager from
00:12WA's South West.
00:14We executed a search warrant at the house where we arrested and now have charged and
00:19bailed a 16 year old person for that threat.
00:23The teenager who can't be named allegedly commented on the mosque's Instagram page that
00:27he was going to Christchurch 2.0, this joint, an apparent reference to the 2019 New Zealand
00:34mosque massacre in which 51 people were killed.
00:37Police confident he was allegedly acting alone.
00:40I think there was no way he could carry out that threat.
00:43There is no ongoing threat.
00:44We don't believe there to be a network of people here or across Australia that is involved
00:49in this threat.
00:50The threat sparked fear amongst those observing Ramadan at the Sydney mosque.
00:54It was a shock to everyone and obviously you can see the numbers of the worshippers
00:59decreased yesterday.
01:00People are scared for their lives.
01:02New South Wales police acting quickly.
01:04We take every threat seriously and the fact that we had this matter reported to us at
01:08midday and a young person was arrested eight hours later shows that we all take it seriously
01:15and as have done our WA colleagues.
01:18The teenager's alleged actions widely condemned.
01:21If you think that you can make a threat to anyone in the community, even a community
01:25on the east coast from Western Australia, you will be caught.
01:29We won't tolerate it or stand for it.
01:31No matter where hate is directed to any member of our community, you've got a right to feel
01:36protected and safe in New South Wales.
01:38The boy was released on bail and is due to face court in Bunbury next month, charged
01:42with creating a false impression about the existence of threats or danger, which carries
01:47a maximum sentence of up to 10 years.