Accounts linked to Queensland police shooter active on conspiracy sites

Online accounts sharing the name of one of the trio shot and killed by police at a regional Queensland property, after the fatal shooting of two officers and a neighbour, repeatedly shared views that Port Arthur was a false-flag event to “disarm” Australians.

Bearing the name Gareth Train — who along with wife Stacey owned the Western Downs property on which the “execution-style” killing of police occurred on Monday — the accounts had been active in fringe online communities as far back as September 2020.

Then, the account had commented on a “your rights and the police” post on a sovereign citizen conspiracy site saying he had “directed law enforcement to leave my premises over the last 20yrs”.

“At times have also asked them to remove their hands from their weapons or pull their pistols and whistle Dixie. Fortunately for me, they have all been cowards,” the account wrote.

“Our country is at a point where even cowards are now dangerous because they are unpredictable in groups, turn your back and you may find yourself out cold on the floor with law enforcement dancing on your head.”

An account bearing that name had also posted repeatedly on another conspiracy news site, including references to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre as a “false-flag” operation to “disarm the Australian population”.

The account had also posted about researching conspiracies since the 1990s, “homesteading” in rural Queensland, shared mistrust in police and suggested the owner had formerly worked in the state’s child protection system.

Monday’s events unfolded at the Wieambilla property, about three hours west of Brisbane, after four young police officers were tasked with following up NSW police request about Train’s brother Nathaniel, a former school principal across both states missing since October.

On Tuesday, Police Union president Ian Leavers described what happened as an ambush ending in the “execution-style” killing of two of the young officers, along with a neighbour, before a siege ensued ending in the trio being killed by specialist police.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said there had been “considerable weaponry” at the property and the officers “didn’t stand a chance”.

Senior police sources have identified the Trains as the three others killed, but police are yet to formally name the group and have given limited detail about the events leading up to the shooting amid ongoing investigations.

The boss of Australia’s counter-espionage agency ASIO said earlier this year the agency was growing more concerned about online radicalisation and extremism linked to conspiracy movements including those with anti-government sovereign citizen beliefs, pointing to events at Old Parliament House.

On Tuesday, one prominent Australian conspiracist and sovereign citizen figure told followers they did not know the circumstances of the Queensland shooting and “frankly I don’t care”.

“Never forget the costumed thugs opened fire [with non-lethal rounds] on my unarmed countrymen at the Shrine of Remembrance last year!” they said, referencing the Melbourne pandemic protest.

With AAP

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