Jeffrey Cranston threatens to burn down Gympie courthouse, council chambers
A well-known protester in his home city of Gympie, who claims he also set Old Parliament House in Canberra alight, has threatened to torch local landmarks during a debate over Covid vaccine mandates.
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A Gympie Pyramid protester, who claims he set the doors of Canberra’s Old Parliament House alight during a Canberra protest, has threatened to torch Gympie’s courthouse and the council chambers.
It comes after more than $4 million in damage was reportedly sustained to Old Parliament House, which was set alight twice during anti-government protests staged by Aboriginal sovereign citizens in December.
Gympie protester Jeffrey Cranston, who has a separate ongoing matter in Gympie Magistrates Court after an alleged clash with police at the Gympie Bruce Highway Bypass site known as the “Gympie Pyramid” in October, claimed he was involved in the Canberra fire in a series of threats shared in comments on a Gympie Times Facebook post on Friday night.
“I’ve already burned the parliament doors and the Gympie courthouse and council chambers are next,” he wrote.
“They destroyed my song lines … I’ll burn theirs to the ground.”
It was not clear what caused Mr Cranston to make the threats.
The Gympie Times reached out to Mr Cranston for comment on Tuesday, where he confirmed he was present at the December protests in Canberra, but did not confirm if he was directly involved in the fire.
“I was there and I have much to tell to an honest journalist as you may already know,” he said.
The Gympie Times has asked Mr Cranston for further comment, but he responded by saying “infiltrators caused the smoking ceremony to erupt into the fire at the doors”.
A 30-year-old Victorian man, whose name was suppressed by the ACT Magistrates Court, was charged with arson after he allegedly carried burning coals from a nearby fire to the building’s front doors.
However, an ACT Policing spokesman told The Gympie Times Mr Cranston had not been charged in relation to the fire, despite his claims.
“Anyone with information about the fire at Old Parliament House is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website and quoting reference 6993036,” they said.
Canberra has been the subject of ongoing civil unrest and protests, including the most recent Convoy to Canberra, where a reported 10,000 people descended on the nation’s capital in response to vaccine mandates.
Loaded weapons were also reportedly found in protester’s campsites.
The Gympie Times has reached out to Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien for comment on the threats made by Mr Cranston in the lead-up to the federal election, projected for May 21.
A Queensland Police spokesman said on Tuesday there had been no reports of Mr Cranston’s threats at the time of publishing, and no charges had been laid.
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