{"id":33106,"date":"2025-07-30T18:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T18:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/33106\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T18:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T18:48:10","slug":"afp-investigating-criminals-offshore-as-arrest-made-over-melbourne-synagogue-arson-attack-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/33106\/","title":{"rendered":"AFP investigating \u2018criminals offshore\u2019 as arrest made over Melbourne synagogue arson attack | Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young man has been arrested, accused of playing a direct role in the \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d arson attack on a synagogue.<\/p>\n

Counter-terrorism police allege the 21-year-old man is one of three people responsible for the attack at Melbourne\u2019s Adass Israel Synagogue.<\/p>\n

The Australian federal police deputy commissioner for national security, Krissy Barrett, told a press conference on Wednesday: \u201cOur investigation is not limited to Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt involves exploring criminals offshore.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we suspect these criminals worked with criminals in Victoria to carry out the arson attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrett said the motivation for the attack was still being assessed and that the AFP was \u201cworking closely\u201d with Five Eyes and international partners on the investigation.<\/p>\n

She thanked Australia\u2019s Jewish community, especially the Adass Israel Synagogue community, for their \u201cstoicism, patience and support\u201d.<\/p>\n

There has been mounting pressure for police to make further arrests over the December 2024 fire<\/a>, which destroyed two of the synagogue\u2019s three buildings.<\/p>\n

Police expect further arrests and additional charges are anticipated.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

Two congregants who were preparing for morning prayers escaped the blaze, with one suffering minor injuries.<\/p>\n

Photos and CCTV footage released by counter-terror police in May showed three people in hoodies and masks getting out of a car before using an axe to damage the entrance of the building.<\/p>\n

Detectives arrested a 20-year-old man in July<\/a> over his alleged role in stealing a car linked to several high-profile incidents, including the synagogue firebombing.<\/p>\n

The man is next due to face court in October after being charged with car theft and failing to provide access to applications on his phone.<\/p>\n

The stolen car was used in other offences, including the Lux nightclub arson at South Yarra in November, as well as an arson and shooting at Bundoora.<\/p>\n

Police executed seven search warrants across Melbourne on Wednesday, seizing various items including electronic devices which will be forensically examined.<\/p>\n

An AFP member was attacked by an unrestrained dog at the Weir Views home, the AFP said, resulting in a police firearm being discharged. The dog was later euthanised and police said the member was being treated for serious bite injuries in hospital.<\/p>\n

Barrett confirmed in the statement that Victoria\u2019s counter-terrorism team (JCTT) \u201ccontinues to investigate the arson attack as a politically motivated crime\u201d.<\/p>\n

Victoria police deputy commissioner Wendy Steendam said the arrest marked a \u201csignificant step forward\u201d in the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s arrest is a demonstration of our ongoing efforts to hold those involved to account,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have charged two people as part of this investigation and I expect there will be more to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said they would interview the 21-year-old man in relation to several offences, including arson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young man has been arrested, accused of playing a direct role in the \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d arson attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-33106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}