Alleged synagogue attacker faces court, remanded in custody

New CCTV captures the moment five suspects wearing black hoodies attacked a business in Melbourne’s Greensborough before setting fire to three cars over the weekend.

Rabbi Gutnick talks with Dvir Abramovich, the chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, at the synagogue in East Melbourne where a fire was lit at the doorway on Friday. Picture: David Crosling

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Police are hunting five suspects dressed in black hoodies and gloves and carrying backpacks over a possible anti-Semitic attack on a Melbourne business, before fleeing on e-bikes.

Detectives have released new CCTV footage of the arson attack in Greensborough early on Saturday as counter-terrorism police investigate if there is any connection with the attacks on a synagogue and restaurant on Friday.

Police said people broke into the business on Para Road about 3.55am before setting fire to three cars and used red spray paint to write slogans on the cars and on a wall.

Police said one of the vehicles was destroyed, while the other two sustained moderate damage.

“While investigators continue to liaise with Counter-Terrorism Command to establish if there are any connections to the arson on the synagogue in East Melbourne and a public order incident on Hardware Lane, at this time no links have been identified,” police said.

“There is absolutely no place at all in our society for anti-Semitic behaviour.”

A man charged with an attempted firebombing of an East Melbourne synagogue full of worshippers can be revealed as 34-year-old NSW man Angelo Loras.

The Toongabbie man was arrested on Saturday night, with detectives from the Counter Terrorism Security Investigation Unit laying charges early on Sunday.

Mr Loras faced court on Sunday but did not apply for bail and will next appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 22.

Mr Loras describes himself on social media as “single, Iranian, forklift driver, music lover”, but made no reference to either the war in Gaza or the Iranian government on his social media accounts.

It comes after Friday night’s alleged attack in which Mr Loras is accused of dousing the front door of the historic East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert Street with an accelerant before trying to set the building alight as 20 worshippers gathered inside for Shabbat.

Police allege Mr Loras was seen walking through Parliament Gardens before entering the grounds of the synagogue.

He has been charged with reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, criminal damage by fire, and possession of a controlled weapon.

Charge sheets released by the court on Sunday alleged that Mr Loras did “without lawful excuse recklessly engage in conduct setting fire to the front entrance of East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation that placed person/s in danger of death”.

The charge sheets also allege that Mr Loras “did damage property … valued at $5000 by setting fire to the front doors” and that he is alleged to have “possessed a controlled weapon”.

Detectives are still investigating Mr Loras’s “intent and ideology” to determine if the attack was an act of terrorism.

Police said officers had yet to link the incident at the synagogue with the storming of a city restaurant and the arson attack on the Greensborough business.

The attempted firebombing of the East Melbourne synagogue comes months after the Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea was targeted by arsonists.

Police had released images of a person they wished to speak to in relation to the suspicious fire at an East Melbourne synagogue.

Mr Loras was arrested in the city about 8.15pm on Saturday.

“Everyone inside (the synagogue) self-evacuated through the rear of the building and were uninjured,” police said in a statement.

“Firefighters extinguished the fire, which was contained to the front entrance.”

Another Melbourne restaurant was defaced with anti-Semitic slogans on Sunday morning, the Herald Sun reports.

Elsternwick restaurant Ren Dao Vegetarian, located opposite the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, had its front window defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.

A symbol of Ned Kelly holding two guns was plastered across the window, as well as on a wall opposite the museum.

Police are yet to determine the motivation for the attack on the East Melbourne synagogue but confirmed arson chemists and detectives are reviewing CCTV footage and investigating the possibility of a hate crime.

In a separate incident hours earlier, protesters wearing keffiyehs entered Miznon – a well-known Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD – and staged a violent demonstration while chanting slogans including “death to the IDF”.

The restaurant franchise’s owner, Afik Miznon, declined to comment.

Shahar Segal, the restaurant chain’s owner in Israel, has been attack online by pro-Palestinian groups, who accused him of having ties to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli aid body operating in Gaza.

Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, welcomed the breakthrough in the East Melbourne attack.

“What occurred on Friday night has ripped through the heart of the Jewish community and shocked the broader public to the core,” he told The Australian.

“The arrest provides some comfort to a community gripped by fear, anger and disbelief, and will offer a measure of reassurance at a time of deep distress. This moment demands more than condemnation.

“It requires moral clarity, unity, and a national awakening that we will never accept violence dressed as protest, or hatred masquerading as politics.

“What happened on Friday night is not just a wake-up call. It’s a test of who we are. We stand in full solidarity with the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and all those impacted by this act and I commend Victoria Police and the Counter Terrorism Security Investigation Unit for their swift and decisive response.”