by Scott Creighton
As of 7:30am Monday Dec. 15th, this is what I know thus far:
On Sunday a Hanukkah event was taking place on Bondi Beach, just outside of Sydney, Australia. Sydney was the location of the massive demonstration this past August where 300,000 Australians showed up displaying their solidarity with the Palestinian people and calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza.
At sometime a red car pulls up on the street side of a pedestrian bridge which leads over to the beach and two men got out carrying a rifle and a shotgun. There were perhaps more weapons in the car. Police report that somehow the two planted bombs or IEDs in another car, a silver car, parked elsewhere. No explanation as to how that is supposed to have worked has been provided to my knowledge.
The two men were father and son, the son being identified by U.S. intelligence as 24-year-old Naveed Akram from Bonnyrigg. The father, Sajid Akram, who died at the scene, was 50.
Australian authorities have not officially released the names of the victims.
Interestingly, as is usually the case in these matters, the suspects were known to Australian authorities.
' The son is an Australian-born citizen who first came to the attention of
the police in 2019 “on the basis of being associated with others,” Home
Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday. Neither of them were known
to have any history of previous criminal offenses, according to the
police.' New York Times
--
'In October 2019, Australia’s intelligence agency examined the son for
ties to a self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist, Australian Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese said in a Monday press conference. Albanese
said the agency decided there had been “no indication of any ongoing
threat”.
On Sunday evening, two men allegedly left improvised
explosive devices in a silver car near Bondi’s beachfront, according to
law enforcement, before heading towards the beach.' Reuters
--
'Mr. Albanese told ABC that the younger gunman first came to the
attention of the police in 2019 because of his connections to two other
people, whom he did not identify. Police also interviewed his father,
the older gunman, at the time. But Australia’s intelligence service
assessed them and determined that there was no evidence that they had
been radicalized.' Times
There is always a story of an IED being left behind. I don't know why they do that.
