source : the age
The NSW Police counterterrorism unit will investigate two people who are believed to have used an accelerant when they tried to set fire to an inner Sydney synagogue in an attack the state’s top cop and premier have decried as an escalation of a crime wave targeting the Jewish community.
Police are hunting two people who they say spray-painted swastika symbols on Newtown Synagogue before using a clear liquid to ignite a fire which self-extinguished within three minutes about 4.30am on Saturday.
Police are investigating graffiti sprayed on the Newtown Synagogue on Saturday morning.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Premier Chris Minns on Sunday said police and the state government were “very concerned” about the attempted arson attack, which he said signalled a rise in the severity of recent antisemitic crime.
“This escalation is very concerning, not just for the Jewish community, but for the wider community. We are, of course, appalled to see antisemitic crime on the streets of Sydney in NSW,” Minns said.
CCTV images of the attack in Newtown.Credit: NSW Police
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said probes into the antisemitic attacks had been taken over by the counter-terrorism command under Strike Force Pearl in the past 24 hours. The state crime command and officers from local area commands would also continue to investigate the crimes.
Webb said the alleged perpetrators – a man and a woman – in the Newtown attack had not yet been identified, and she issued a fresh plea for the community to help authorities identify the pair.
“An accelerant of some type has been used, and that is an escalation in the level of criminality,” Webb said.
“This is a serious matter, this is not just hate, it’s malicious, and it could [have caused] the death of individuals if that fire had taken hold.”
Webb said police were not investigating the attack as a terrorism incident, but said, “we certainly keep an open mind”.
“Let’s be clear, whether it’s terrorism or not, this is a crime, and it deserves the full extent of the law.
Police have released vision of two people wanted over graffiti sprayed on the walls of the Southern Sydney Synagogue at Allawah.Credit: NSW Police
“I appeal to anyone out there who knows who has perpetrated these disgusting offences to come forward and tell police who they are. We will continue pursuing them until we find them.”
Police issued CCTV images of two people they said might be able to assist with inquiries into the Newtown incident. One was described as wearing a black hooded jumper with white writing across the front and a white glove on their right hand, and riding a mountain bike. The other was wearing a black jacket with a white emblem on the left-hand side, blue and orange gloves, and riding a black motorised scooter.
Police are also investigating graffiti on a house and five parked cars on Henry Street in Queens Park, which they believe occurred between 11.30pm Friday and 6.30am Saturday. Offensive comments written on a poster on Marrickville Road, Marrickville, were also reported to police on Saturday.
On Friday, the Southern Sydney Synagogue was vandalised with antisemitic graffiti – including multiple swastikas and a reference to Hitler – in an incident Minns condemned as a “hate-filled attack”.
More to come
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