Political violence warning from top counter terror cop
Victoria’s top counter terror cop has warned of a rise in politically motivated violence from extreme right and left wing groups.
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Victoria’s top counter terror cop has warned of a rise in politically motivated violence from extreme groups.
Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther, head of Victoria Police’s counter terrorism command, told the Sunday Herald Sun there had been a concerning change in dynamic between “extreme elements of the political Left and Right” in recent years and it was important the force didn’t concentrate solely on Islamic extremism.
“We are concerned at the rise of politically motivated violence here,” Mr Guenther said.
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While international events including the 2016 murder of an MP in the UK and violent clashes in Paris between protesters and police this week show the level of violence those influenced by politics are willing to use, there have been incidents in Victoria which have concerned police.
A Braybrook man was arrested in 2016 and charged, with police alleging he talked about bombing the headquarters of Melbourne’s anarchists.
In September three people were arrested after Left wing protesters faced off with supporters of Nigel Farage outside the right-wing UK politician’s speaking event in Collins St.
“Over the last five years 80 to 90 per cent of our threat would be Islamist … (but) we need to be really mindful of politically motivated violence going forward,” Mr Guenther told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“If you look in the UK you have had some significant activity in the last 12 to 18 months.
“Events such as the murder of Jo Cox and similar acts of violence conducted overseas serve to reinforce Victoria Police’s view that violence can be perpetrated by individuals and groups from across the ideological, political and religious spectrum.”
Ms Cox was shot and stabbed by Thomas Mair, who had links to a US-based neo-Nazi group and shouted “Britain first” as he killed the Labour MP.
The mother-of-two was targeted by Mair because he disagreed with her pro-European Union views. Her murder came a week before the EU referendum vote, which saw 52 per cent of those who voted support Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.
Victoria Police has carried out numerous investigations related to the activities of those associated with extreme elements of the political left and right, Mr Guenther said.
“The Counter Terrorism Command monitors the activities of a number persons of interest it assesses as being at risk of engaging in politically motivated violence or terrorism,” he said.
“The Right, which has been invigorated and re-energised by a range of local and international developments (including the global rise in the support for populist parties), which in turn has led to a situation in which their ideological opponents, particularly the political left, have become increasingly active, and in some instances, violent, in their efforts to counter the influence and messaging of their opponents.”