An Australian man was arrested and charged last Thursday for his role in the vandalization of a Jewish school and other greater Sydney area sites that were previously connected by authorities to an alleged plot by organized crime to distract law enforcement and scam them out of reduced sentences for the mastermind.
The 41-year-old Eastlakes man was charged on March 20 for the January 29 vandalism of the Maroubra Jewish day school Mount Sinai College, an Eastgardens shopping center, and a home in Maroubra and another in Eastlakes. Graffiti on the sites included phrases such as “Jew dogs” and “Jews are the real terrorists.”
During the search of the man’s home, police allegedly found prohibited drugs. The suspect was charged with group damaging property, group damaging property worth less than $2000, driving a vehicle without consent of the owner, driving with a disqualified license, supplying a prohibited drug, and two counts of possession of prohibited drugs.
Others charged with the antisemitic incidents
A 40-year-old Penshurst man had been arrested and charged for his involvement in the same incidents in the March 10 crime ring sweep. The Penshurst suspect was charged for driving a vehicle with a suspended license, taking and driving a vehicle without an owner’s consent, resisting police officers, failing to comply with orders to provide information, and giving false information for accessing digital evidence. He was arrested alongside a 30-year-old man, who was charged for possession of a prohibited electronic stun weapon and possession of prohibited steroid drugs.
According to a March 10 New South Wales Police and Australian Federal Police briefing, the Penshurst man and thirteen others were arrested in connection to a wave of arson and vandalism attacks against Jewish New South Wales targets, including the Dural caravan faux terrorism plot.
Law enforcement claimed that organized criminal elements were hiring petty criminals to target the Sydney area Jewish community in a manner that exploited antisemitism in Australia that had escalated since October 7. The criminals had submitted tips about terrorist attacks, including the Dural incident that appeared to target a synagogue with an explosives-laden caravan, in order to divert law enforcement resources and con authorities into cooperation deals. The mastermind hoped to provide information about fake plots in return for reduced sentences and other benefits. In one example, criminals fabricated a fake terrorist plot involving obtaining high-powered firearms, which a criminal offered to provide information to get drug trafficking charges reduced.
A 31-year-old Camperdown man was arrested for preparing vehicles with equipment for criminal action. He was charged with directing activities of a criminal group, five counts of accessory before the fact to damage property, and three arson-related charges.
An 18-year-old San Remo man, a 20-year-old Canton Beach man, and a 37-year-old held in a correctional facility were arrested for providing vehicles for a January 21 arson attack on a Maroubra kindergarten. The kindergarten was not a Jewish community facility but was in close proximity to a synagogue, and antisemitic graffiti was found at the scene. The fires caused an estimated $3.4 million in damages.
A 25-year-old Box Hill man and a 23-year-old arrested in a correctional facility were arrested and charged for allegedly spraying a Queens Park home, five cars, and a trailer on January 11. One home was tagged with the words “F*** Jews.”
A 33-year-old Wentworthville man was charged with two counts of intentionally damaging property in company, larceny, and driving with a disqualified license for his alleged role in a February 2 vandalism spree in King Lane, Randwick and See Lane, Kingsford. The suspect was supposedly involved in the spray-painting of multiple vehicles, garages, and walls, including with the slogan “F*k [sic] Jews.”
Two men were arrested at a correctional facility in connection to the October arson of the Kosher Lewis’ Continental Kitchen. A 41-year-old man was charged for destroying property as part of criminal group activity. The younger man was charged with accessory to destroying property using fire before the fact and commissioning arson attacks in Bondi Beach. Three days before the kosher eatery arson, the similarly named Curly Lewis Brewing Co. was targeted for arson, for which another four men were arrested, two of them in January.
A 27-year-old Eastlakes woman was arrested and faced charges including three counts of possessing prohibited drugs including cannabis, methamphetamines, prescription medication, and possession of a prohibited stun device. Another woman was arrested in Sutherland and charged for participating in a criminal group and her possession of methamphetamines and prescription medications.
A 26-year-old Wentworth Point man was charged for drug and criminal proceeds possession.
With last Friday’s announcement of the newest arrest, Strike Force Pearl had arrested and charged a total of 30 people since its formation in December to address rising antisemitic crime.