Disturbing flyers handed out on street day before house where girl allegedly tortured destroyed

A police probe is under way after racially-charged flyers were handed out on the street the day before a Sunshine Coast home, where a girl was allegedly tortured, was destroyed by fire.

A police probe is under way after racially-charged flyers were dropped in the neighbourhood where an alleged torture of a teen took place.

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A white supremacist group has attempted to capitalise on the horrific alleged torture of a teenage girl by letterbox dropping racially-charged leaflets naming her alleged attackers.

The pamphlets were distributed in the Tewantin street on the Sunshine Coast on March 28; just a day before the house where the alleged March 11 torture took place was gutted by a fire police have deemed suspicious.

Police are now investigating the origins of the leaflets and whether the timing of the letterbox drop was linked to the torching of the house.

The leaflets, sighted by the Courier Mail’s sister paper, the Sunshine Coast Daily, have the word “warning” emblazoned across the top in capital letters as well as photographs purporting to be two of the three girls accused of the March 11 attack.

Below that is a racial slur about the three alleged attackers, who are named in the flyer, as well as a website link to an information page for a neo-Nazi organisation known to be actively recruiting for new members.

The Sunshine Coast Daily has seen the leaflets which were delivered along the street but has chosen not to publish the contents or the racist organisation’s name.

An alleged torture house at Tewantin has been trashed and burnt to the ground. Picture: Supplied

The alleged attackers named in the leaflets cannot be identified because of state laws preventing the identification of juveniles before the courts.

Police were already concerned about a wave of vigilantism that had occurred since the March 11 attack when the teenage girl was allegedly tortured for four hours.

Videos of the alleged attack later surfaced and went viral online, prompting increased police patrols in the street to protect neighbours.

But the flyer has sparked fear among some residents they could be targeted by a neo-Nazi organisation, or other children in the neighbourhood could be targeted.

“It’s quite terrifying especially knowing our kids are in this neighbourhood,” Fox Moyo, who lives in the street with his family, said.

“We feel targeted already.”

A flyer containing racial slurs has been handed out in a street in which a home has burnt to the ground after it was alleged acts of torture against a teenager occurred inside. Picture: Supplied

Mr Moyo said flyers were distributed in the street on March 28, but not to his home, and he questioned whether people of colour were at risk of being targeted because of the leaflets.

“If people are doing that already and their agenda … if they can exclude just a pamphlet what else can be targeted?” he said.

Sunshine Coast District Duty officer Superintendent Craig Hawkins said the cultural heritage of those living in the destroyed Tewantin home was irrelevant to the alleged acts that had allegedly occurred there.

“This is a direct attempt … to incite radical behaviour and racially motivated behaviour … no way is that behaviour condoned,” he said.

“Everyone has the right in Queensland to feel safe, to not be a victim and to live harmoniously within the state.”

Superintendent Craig Hawkins said during a press conference on Wednesday the group were being investigated by police. Picture: Elizabeth Neil

Police were made aware of the pamphlets early on Wednesday.

Superintendent Hawkins said police were investigating who created and distributed the leaflets as well as if there was any connection to the house fire.

He said the same flyers were distributed in another area in southeast Queensland as well as Tewantin but initial investigations showed they came from an interstate organisation with no connection to the Sunshine Coast.

“We take acts of racial discrimination … very seriously and we will prosecute the individuals if and when we locate them,” Superintendent Hawkins said.

The region’s top cop said those responsible could face charges under the Anti-Discrimination Act.

The house where the alleged attack occurred is owned by the Queensland Housing Commission and needed to be boarded up after the inside was ransacked and vandalised just days before it was set alight.

Mr Moyo said firefighters had already arrived by the time he became aware of the blaze.

“It was just a ball of fire, you could see it burning and getting even worse,” he said.

Noosa’s independent state Member of Parliament, Sandy Bolton, said she was deeply saddened by what had unfolded in the community since the alleged attack.

“This isn’t how my community behaves, further wrongs don’t make a right,” she said.

Queensland’s Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said she was “shocked to see this hateful material circulating”.

Ms Fentiman refused to comment on the specifics of the incident because of the police investigation, but it is understood the offensive nature of the pamphlet would be captured by new hate crime laws introduced to state parliament this week.

Under the laws, which are yet to be passed, Queenslanders caught displaying hate symbols such as those linked to Nazi ideology will face up to six months in prison.

“The legislation we have introduced aims to stamp out serious vilification of an individual or group because of their race, religion, sexuality, sex characteristics or gender identity,” the Attorney-General said.

“An attack on human dignity will not be tolerated.

“Complaints about serious vilification can be made to the Queensland Human Rights Commission.”