A Sydney man has been charged after he allegedly planted an item initially believed to be a bomb on a vehicle belonging to a man who put up a Palestinian flag.
NSW Police arrested a 44-year-old man after executing a search warrant at a home in Botany on Thursday.
The man has been charged with two counts of stalk/intimidate with intent to cause fear of physical harm, send article to cause alarm, use carriage service to menace/harass/offend and entering enclosed land.
Theo, who did not want his surname disclosed for safety reasons, discovered the suspicious device attached to the bonnet of his ute at his Botany residence on January 5.
The item was a jerry can with a small volume of petrol inside with a rag forced into the open lid. A lighter was also taped to the top and several bolts were taped to the side.
An attached note read: “Enough! Take down flag! One chance!!!!”
Bomb Squad officers were called to the home and removed the item, which they deemed to be “safe”.
Theo told the ABC that finding the device was quite distressing.
“I felt scared. I felt particularly scared for my partner,” he said.
“I worried that I’d done something wrong. I worried that somehow in speaking up and being in opposition of genocide, I had done something wrong.
Theo put up the Palestinian flag and a sign about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the front of his home last November. He also attached a flag to the back of his ute.
He said he would continue flying the flag despite the threat.
Police established a crime scene at Theo’s home and launched an investigation.
On February 16, Theo received an alleged threatening phone call. He contacted police who began looking into the matter.
Officers seized numerous items at the man’s property after conducting the search warrant at his property.
The man has been refused bail and is expected to appear via audio-visual link at Downing Centre Local Court today.
