Laval Huang allegedly threatens Daniel Andrews on Facebook
A Heidelberg Heights gym junkie’s alleged vile Facebook post has been described by Victoria’s counter terrorism unit as the worst of the many death threats Daniel Andrews has received on social media over COVID restrictions.
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A gym junkie allegedly threatened to kill Daniel Andrews and his family in a “very disturbing” and descriptive Facebook post, before police found a kabar knife in his bedroom.
Laval Huang allegedly made the vile Facebook status — which Victoria’s counter terrorism unit dubbed the worst of many threats Daniel Andrews has received on social media — on the afternoon Melbourne’s second lockdown was announced.
The 20-year-old fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, July 22, to apply for bail, after being charged with making threats to kill, as well being accused of drug trafficking on two occasions.
The court heard the apprentice electrician linked Daniel Andrews’ Facebook page to the post, in which he allegedly talked of murder, rape and slitting throats if the Premier closed his gym again.
The post was removed by Facebook about 30 minutes after it was published on the afternoon of July 7, due to Huang’s Facebook friends reporting it, including one who took a screenshot of it and notified police.
Constable Glen Houghton said police were highly concerned about the very descriptive discussion of bodily harm, saying it showed “a compulsive obsession to cause death or serious injury” to the Premier and his family.
Senior Constable Lucas Walland said a psychologist at the counter terrorism unit, who had been vetting a large number of threats made on social media regarding Daniel Andrews and COVID-19 restrictions, dubbed Huang’s “the worst of the whole lot”.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said she hadn’t seen something as offensive as the “very disturbing comments”, with the level of detail being highly concerning.
“I’m somewhat speechless in terms of the language,” she said.
Ms Tregent said the post raised great concerns about Huang’s mental health.
The court heard police raided Huang’s Heidelberg Heights home on July 21, allegedly finding 28g of cocaine between 28 plastic bags, cannabis, prescription medication and an extensive amount of testosterone and steroids.
They also allegedly found electronic scales, ziplock bags, fake number plates and a kabar knife.
The court heard Huang had since refused to give police the password to his phone or laptop.
He was on bail at the time after he was allegedly caught dealing MDMA at the Babylon in the Park festival at Sidney Myer Music Bowl on February 22.
A shirtless Huang allegedly sold three MDMA capsules to an undercover cop before police found 29 MDMA capsules and $657 in his bumbag.
Huang’s lawyer, Emily Metcalfe, pushed for him to be granted bail, saying he had no criminal history and would have the support of the Youth Justice Service program on bail, including mental health counselling.
She said he wouldn’t necessarily be sentenced to jail for the crimes.
Ms Tregent agreed, but said she was very concerned about the contents of the post, particularly because Huang wanted it to be seen publicly.
She bailed him with strict conditions, demanding he delete all social media accounts, banning him from going within 200m of Parliament House and from attempting to contact or approach the Premier or his family.
She also ordered he undertake weekly drug screens and be subject to a curfew.
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