Arresting development: finally cops unite against anti-Semitism

The nation’s police chiefs have finally united to establish a cross-nation taskforce to fight anti-Semitism, as suspects involved in an attack on a Jewish deli allegedly refused to hand over phone passwords.

A second man has been arrested after an alleged attempt to set a Newtown synagogue on fire.

The nation’s police chiefs have finally united to establish a cross-nation taskforce to fight anti-Semitism and quash the escalating hatred of Australian Jews, as suspects involved in an attack on a Jewish deli allegedly refused to hand over passwords to allow officers to access their devices.

Some of the men alleged to have carrying out some of the summer’s worst anti-Semitic hate crimes were revealed on Friday to have links to NSW’s criminal underbelly, with Adam Hawi, the son of murdered bikie boss Mick Hawi, charged with refusing to tell police who was behind the wheel of his car when it was allegedly used in an extensive anti-Jewish attack in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in November.

A day after police commissioners from every state and territory met to discuss the rise of anti-Semitism across the country, a second man was tasered and arrested in Sydney on Thursday over his alleged part in the attempted arson of the Newtown synagogue.

The police commissioners vowed to establish a “dedicated anti-Semitism co-ordination group” to “consolidate existing joint arrangements and ensure a specific formal forum for collaboration on this issue”.

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.

“Ongoing engagement with the Jewish community, as well as the many diverse communities that call Australia home, will continue to be prioritised by all jurisdictions,” the commissioners’ statement said.

There are 15 investigations spearheaded by the AFP’s Operation Avalite, the specialist taskforce set up to investigate threats, violence and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community.

It is up to state and territory police to request AFP assistance, but it is understood the AFP has “always” offered support to all states and territories.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson called on NSW Police and the AFP to work “seamlessly together” to ensure all commonwealth and state legislation was used to investigate the offences, after two men allegedly involved in what police say was an anti-Semitic-related incident allegedly refused to provide passwords to allow investigators to forensically examine the contents of their mobile phone.

Fire at Jewish deli Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi in Sydney’s east. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

“The Coalition in government introduced tough new laws to facilitate access to encrypted communications including account takeover and network access warrants that are only available to federal agencies like the AFP. It could seriously impede any investigation if these powers aren’t being used in close co-operation with state and federal police,” Senator Paterson said.

When asked whether it would hand over a client password to police if it is ordered to do so under a warrant, Tech giant Apple referred The Australian to a portion of its website that said “legal team reviews requests to ensure that the requests have a valid legal basis”.

Police are investigating the origin of the mysterious criminal “James Bond”, who is alleged to have puppet-mastered at least one of the anti-Semitic firebombing attacks, and authorities continue to probe whether foreign adversaries and organised crime gangs are playing a role in orchestrating the hate crimes.

The alleged refusal of the two men to provide their phone details to NSW Police followed allegations in The Australian on Thursday that two other men were initially and separately hired to firebomb the same alleged target – Lewis Continental Kitchen.

They mistakenly hit a Bondi brewery with a similar name on October 17, telling each other in an encrypted group chat, “I’m starting to think he (James Bond) has sent us to the wrong place lol”.

Three days later, on October 20, Wayne Ogden, 40, who has never held a licence, allegedly stole a BMW in Arncliffe in Sydney’s inner south about 2am, drove it to Bondi Beach and set Lewis Continental Kitchen on fire.

While detained on remand in Silverwater prison, Mr Ogden then allegedly “failed to comply with a digital evidence order” related to handing over his password, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Police allege Mr Ogden’s co-accused, Juon Majok Mal Amuoi, attended the Campbell Parade deli five days earlier, on October 15, dressed in black and armed with a sledgehammer “with the intention of causing damage to the property”, before he was scared off by a security guard who alerted police. He has not been charged in relation to the October 20 firebombing.

Mr Amuoi is also allegedly refusing to hand over his phone password to police and is facing additional charges for “failing to comply with a lawful direction given under the order by an executing officer”.

It is not clear whether “James Bond” is behind the other attacks and attempted attacks on the business.

Neither Mr Ogden nor Mr Amuoi have entered pleas.

As police ramp up their fight against anti-Semitism, another alleged offender was arrested over the attempted firebombing of the Newtown Synagogue. Charges are yet to be laid.

During his arrest, the man was tasered, with paramedics treating him at Day Street police station. Video provided by NSW Police shows officers from anti-Semitism taskforce Strike Force Pearl leading the alleged vandal from the site of his arrest to a police truck.

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.

That follows the arrest of 33-year-old Pyrmont man Adam Moule on Tuesday for allegedly vandalising the same synagogue in Sydney’s inner west with Nazi symbols and trying, unsuccessfully, to set it on fire.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed on Thursday police did not know the identity of “James Bond”.

The AFP said it was exploring 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.

“At the moment we don’t know who that person is, and that’s why these remain active investigations to identify the principals in these matters,” Commissioner Webb told ABC Radio National.

She called the practice “Airtasker for criminals”.

Commissioner Webb said police “were keeping our mind very open to any possibility” when asked if “James Bond” was an individual, state actor or terrorist organisation.