Alleged Sydney synagogue vandal charged for property damage, Nazi symbols

After a night in hospital, the second suspect in the attempted arson of Newtown Synagogue in inner Sydney has been charged with property damage and the display of Nazi symbols.

A second man has been charged after an alleged attempt to set a religious building on fire in Newtown earlier this month. Picture: NSW Police

NSW Police have tightened their crackdown on alleged anti-Semitic vandals, charging a second suspect in the attempted arson of Newtown synagogue with property damage and displaying Nazi symbols.

On Friday, the 37-year-old arrested at Darling Harbour was taken to Day Street Police Station in Sydney’s CBD where he was branded with charges of destroy/damage property in company, destroying property in company using fire, and knowingly displaying by public act a Nazi symbol. He will face the Parramatta Local Court on Saturday.

During his arrest on Thursday, the man was tasered, with paramedics treating him at Day Street Police Station. Video provided by NSW Police shows officers from the dedicated anti-Semitism taskforce Strike Force Pearl leading the alleged vandal being escorted from the site of his arrest to a paddywagon.

Both in Pyrmont and upon his arrival at Day Street he is hunched over and shirtless, with what seem to be bruises along his lower back.

He spent Thursday night in hospital and was refused bail. The alleged vandal is the tenth person charged by the state’s dedicated anti-Semitism taskforce Strike Force Pearl.

The second man arrested over an alleged attempt to set a Newtown synagogue alight on January 11, 2025, was seen hunched and shirtless. Picture: NSW Police

It comes after NSW Police arrested 33-year-old Adam Moule, from Pyrmont near Sydney’s CBD, on Tuesday for allegedly vandalising Newtown Synagogue in Sydney’s inner west with Nazi symbols and trying, unsuccessfully, to set it on fire. He was taken into custody at 7.40pm and charged with multiple offences, including destroying property using fire and stolen goods.

Moule’s case was adjourned on Thursday until February 6. He made no application for bail and will remain in remand.

It comes after the nation’s police chiefs united to establish a cross-nation taskforce, with police commissioners from every state and territory co-ordinating their approach to anti-Semitic hate crimes.

The new group will convene monthly to exchange intelligence, co-ordinate responses and leverage national mechanisms for both ongoing investigations and proactive operations that may span state and territory borders.

The Australian Federal Police is currently investigating whether “overseas actors” had enlisted local criminals to carry out anti-Semitic attacks, while intelligence also suggested Australian-based organised crime gangs could have paid perpetrators behind recent attacks.

Police will argue Moule and the second accused are the men pictured in CCTV from the scene which showed two hooded men, dressed in black, spray painting Nazi symbols on the synagogue’s fence on January 11. They then appear to pour clear fluid onto the building in an alleged attempt to burn the premises.