[TheGuardian] A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Victoria after counter-terrorism raids on Monday, with police alleging he was involved in preparing for planning a terrorist act in Melbourne on New Year’s Eve.The man has not been charged. The Victoria police deputy commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Tuesday morning that the man “was intending to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could in Federation Square area on New Year’s Eve”.
“The male is one of our high-risk persons of interest. We have been monitoring him for a very lengthy period of time. He’s an Australian citizen and he is of Somalian parents.”
In a joint counter-terrorism operation between state and federal police and intelligence agencies, searches were conducted at two residential properties in the south-western suburb of Werribee and the northern suburb of Meadow Heights, as well as a commercial property in Footscray, in Melbourne’s inner west.
The man was arrested just before 3pm on Monday. The search at the man’s home in Werribee would continue into Tuesday afternoon, Patton said. “What we are seeing is that the search will be complex,” he said.
The man is now being interviewed in relation to preparing to commit a terrorist attack, and collecting documents to facilitate a terrorist attack.
Patton said that once the interview was complete, he expected the man would face court, possibly some time on Tuesday afternoon.
“We expect that he will appear at the Melbourne magistrates court and that he will be charged with those offences,” Patton said, adding: “This male did not access a firearm. I think it is very important that I provide that reassurance to the public.
“He has been subject to our active investigation and at no stage did he access a firearm … The arrest means that this threat has been removed.
“We are quite confident that there is no risk or no threat to the Victorian community now that we have removed him from society … there is no ongoing threat posed in respect to New Year’s Eve, Christmas or any other area.”
An acting deputy commissioner for the Australian federal police, Ian McCartney, said the charges that police expected to bring against the man were serious and carried a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Police do not anticipate further arrests.
| Deutsche Welle adds: |
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
the man after he attempted to purchase an automatic rifle.
The man, who was not named, had downloaded instructions from an al-Qaeda-linked website on how to launch a terrorist attack and how to use firearms, according to Victoria State Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton.
"What we will be alleging is that he was intending to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could in the Federation Square area on New Year's Eve," Patton said Tuesday.
Counterterrorism police had been monitoring the man for some time. He was allegedly a known bully boy and a sympathizer of the "Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
" (IS) group. Police acted when he met with people in an unsuccessful attempt to procure a gun.
A year ago, police foiled a plot to attack the same popular area on Christmas Day, arresting several men who planned to use explosives, knives and guns to target the location.
| At 11:00 pm ET, An Nahar names our Somali-Australian villain as Ali Ali. |