Man Tasered during arrest over Sydney antisemitic attack

Police have arrested a second man over an attempt to burn down Newtown Synagogue this month, Tasering the suspect before he was taken into custody.

The arrest took place as the first man charged over the antisemitic attack abandoned a court bid to be released.

Two men were captured on CCTV spraying swastika symbols on the synagogue before pouring clear accelerant on the building and lighting it on the evening of January 11.

Police arrested 33-year-old Adam Moule at Camperdown on Tuesday evening after raids on two properties.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said a second arrest was imminent. It occurred at 1pm on Thursday.

Strike Force Pearl, which includes counter-terrorism investigators and specialist police, picked up the second man in a hotel on Pyrmont Bridge Road in Pyrmont.

A second man has been arrested over an antisemitic attack on a Newtown synagogue less than two weeks ago.Credit: NSW Police

The 37-year-old man was Tasered by police, checked over by paramedics and handed to investigators who took him to the city’s Day Street police station.

The man was charged with destroy/damage property in company, destroy property in company use fire, and knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse. He was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday.

NSW Premier Chris Minns congratulated NSW Police for “their dogged work investigating the Newtown Synagogue attack”.

“The NSW Police Force has deployed dozens of officers determined to catch the bastards responsible for these sickening, racist crimes,” he said in a statement.

Police investigating the antisemitic attack at the Newtown Synagogue.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

A total of nine people have been charged under Strike Force Pearl, including Moule.

Moule was expected to ask for bail at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday but withdrew his bid and was not brought up from the cells to face a magistrate.

He has yet to enter pleas to charges of damaging property by fire, possessing cannabis plants and possessing five bank cards with five different names. He will return to court on February 6.

Four men have been charged following fires at two businesses in Bondi in October 2024, while three men were charged after vehicles and buildings were allegedly damaged in Woollahra in November 2024.

A woman was also charged after vehicles and buildings were allegedly damaged in a separate attack at Woollahra in December 2024.

Police are investigating intelligence that some of the attacks have been orchestrated by foreign actors, in exchange for payments in cryptocurrency, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw told media on Wednesday.

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