Anti-jab violence: cops vow no mercy

The counter-terror chief has vowed to crack down on activists who incite violent resistance to vaccination and lockdowns.

Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Scott Lee. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Australia’s counter-terrorism chief has vowed to crack down on activists who incite violent resistance to vaccination and lockdowns, amid a surge of online death threats against political leaders and chief health officers.

Australian Federal Police ­assistant commissioner Scott Lee told The Australian he was deeply concerned by the “escalation in the online environment” as the impacts of Covid-19 were felt in lockdowns and on people’s ­mental health.

“We are looking at the online environment very closely and where we see commentary cross the threshold that goes to the ­potential for a commitment to ­violence or violent acts, that’s where we’ll take action,” he said.

Authorities fear online conspiracy theories are becoming real-world terror threats in the wake of Monday’s arrest of a Perth man for impersonating a police officer, following an investigation into a fake video purporting to show AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw plotting to overthrow the federal government.

On Monday, The Australian revealed the video was circulating in online conspiracy circles and had been watched more than 100,000 times, with police concerned unbalanced individuals might act on it.

The video claims to record the commissioner detailing how political leaders will be arrested and removed from office, with “the last resort to pull a handgun on someone”.

Mr Lee said police decided they needed to move urgently on the case after the man said he was in possession of a pistol. “Threats of violence are obviously the threshold for police as to whether we feel that we’re to take action or not, and in this situation, particularly in that video, you saw there was commentary in there threatening force, and references to someone being in possession of a firearm,” he said. “And that’s ­obviously why we made the decision to disrupt the group.”

While investigating the case, police discovered that a shipment of three boxes of replica AFP badges was sent to a member of the group at a house in Cairns, with 470 badges recovered. Police are searching for the rest of them.

“We won’t hesitate to lay further charges if more criminal offences are identified,” Mr Lee said.

Police and intelligence agencies are concerned that social media platforms such as Telegram, which are not subject to many of the rules applied by Facebook and Twitter, have increasingly become platforms for advocates of violence.

The move to send 300 troops to Sydney to support police ­enforcing the lockdown has been met with fierce resistance in online activist groups, with widespread – and false – claims that the ADF is forcing residents to have vaccinations.

One widely shared report claimed soldiers in Fairfield were “going door to door with the vaccine in hand and told everyone in the house to come outside and to leave their phones inside”.

Others have circulated photographs of an army tank in a street in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, supposedly enforcing the lockdown. The image is actually of a museum piece Centurion taking part in a 2014 street parade.

On rebel MP Craig Kelly’s Telegram page several posts contain death threats against Scott Morrison and other politicians.

Under a picture Mr Kelly ­posted of the Prime Minister a follower wrote: “The biggest danger to Australians is in that picture. Scumo needs to be hung for ­treason.”

“Every police officer that participates, every health official that administers a jab … every journo, every celeb, every politician that didn’t say anything … everyone will be jailed or executed, no f..king around,” says another.

In recent days, Mr Kelly has been active on Telegram warning followers of “troops on streets, government control of the media, censorship of alternate opinions, protests banned, parliament suspended – all the hallmarks of a military coup.”

In response, one follower says: “The only way to overthrow this corrupt criminal government is by force like they do in South America.”

“They will soon be going to Gitmo … Scomo and those involved in this mass genocide,” says another. “These grubs need to get tried in Nuremberg 2.0”