{"id":511590,"date":"2026-03-01T10:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511590\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T10:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:37:13","slug":"terror-accused-jayson-joseph-michaels-revealed-as-former-christian-schoolboy-and-labourer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511590\/","title":{"rendered":"Terror accused Jayson Joseph Michaels revealed as former Christian schoolboy and labourer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man who allegedly plotted a “mass casualty” terror attack in Western Australia has been identified as a former Perth Christian school student and labourer.<\/p>\n

Jayson Joseph Michaels on Friday became the first person in WA to be arrested and charged with preparing a terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

The ABC can reveal the 20-year-old had attended St Stephen’s School in Perth’s outer northern suburb of Carramar, before dropping out in year 10 to go to TAFE.<\/p>\n

Property records show his parents owned a house in Tapping until late 2024, before the family moved to Bindoon, in WA’s Wheatbelt, where Mr Michaels later worked for a local gravel supply business.<\/p>\n

Online radicalisation alleged<\/p>\n

Police allege Mr Michaels had been radicalised online and had been planning the attack in a notebook he kept at his family’s Bindoon home, where he lived with his parents.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Some of the weapons police say were seized from the home of Jayson Joseph Michaels in Bindoon.\u00a0 (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n

Inside that book, it is alleged, were plans to attack the WA Police headquarters in East Perth, Parliament House and undisclosed Muslim places of worship in the Perth metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

St Stephens School confirmed to the ABC on Sunday that Mr Michaels had attended its Carramar campus, leaving in 2021 to pursue a TAFE qualification in IT.<\/p>\n

WA Police charge 20yo man with preparation for terrorist act<\/a><\/p>\n

Police have charged a 20-year-old man they allege was planning a “mass casualty” terror attack targeting public buildings in Western Australia.<\/p>\n

“Anti-Muslim ideology, antisemitism, white supremacist ideology and hate speech have no place in our society,” a school spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“As the investigation is ongoing the school will provide no further comment at this time.”<\/p>\n

Former boss shocked<\/p>\n

Mr Michaels’ former boss at Bindoon Hill Gravel Supply, Ian Hall, said he was “shocked” to find out his former employee had been charged over a terror plot.<\/p>\n

“This young fella reached out to me for employment recently,” the business said in a Facebook post last year.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Jayson Joseph Michaels (right) was allegedly plotting to attack WA Parliament House, police headquarters and Muslim places of worship. (Facebook)<\/p>\n

“Jayson is a little unsure on what his career pathway looks like though [he] asked to have a crack with our crew.”<\/p>\n

Mr Michaels worked for the family-run business for around three months and was described as “quiet” and “introverted”.<\/p>\n

Mr Hall said in all his interactions with Mr Michaels, he had never alluded to having radical views.<\/p>\n

Weapons seized<\/p>\n

Police raided Mr Michaels’ family home earlier this week, where they allegedly found seven firearms, imitation firearms, a ballistic vest, face shields, lock-picking equipment and a large collection of knives.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Police say they seized a large quantity of weapons including knives and guns from Mr Michaels’ house. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n

A local who had met Mr Michaels a number of times described him as a “strange kid”.<\/p>\n

“Quiet, fairly unassuming,” the local, who asked not to be named, told the ABC.<\/p>\n

“Sort of odd-looking fellow with his hair shaved on one side, blonde, I don’t think he was really (naturally) blonde.”<\/p>\n

Popular weekend spot<\/p>\n

Multiple “beware of the dog” signs are affixed to the gate at Mr Michaels’s address, which is a recently built modern home with a large colourful statue of flowers out front.<\/p>\n

Several cars were in the driveway when the ABC visited this morning, one apparently a work van.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jayson Joseph Michaels’ family home in Bindoon has signs on the front gate reading “beware of the dog”.\u00a0 (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)<\/p>\n

Children could be heard playing in neighbouring properties.<\/p>\n

Many locals who spoke to the ABC were surprised to hear of Mr Michaels’ arrest in their small town, 65 kilometres north-east of Perth.<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/p>\n

Bindoon, in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, has become a popular tree change destination. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)<\/p>\n

Bindoon, in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, features local produce stores and a famous bakery, and attracts flocks of visitors from the city on weekends.<\/p>\n

In recent years new housing developments have sprung up and it has become a tree-change destination.<\/p>\n

White supremacist link alleged<\/p>\n

\u00a0WA Premier Roger Cook said on Friday Mr Michaels was believed to have been motivated by white supremacist ideology.<\/p>\n

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said police had been monitoring Mr Michaels since January and had uncovered a range of items at his home.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police say Jayson Michaels had accumulated a large collection of weapons and ammunition. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n

“We have now seized firearms, imitation firearms, a ballistic vest, gas masks, lock picking equipment,” he said on Friday.<\/p>\n

“Most concerningly, there was a notebook that outlined preparations for a terrorist attack at significant locations including the WA police headquarters building, Parliament House, and places of Muslim faith in WA,” Mr Blanch said it would be alleged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man who allegedly plotted a “mass casualty” terror attack in Western Australia has been identified as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,255288,255289,255287,120867,255291,255286,44,14666,86,57934,255292,255290,14665,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-511590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bindoon","11":"tag-bindoon-man-planning-for-terror-attack","12":"tag-bindoon-terror-attack","13":"tag-col-blanch","14":"tag-history-of-terrorism-in-western-australia","15":"tag-jayson-joseph-michaels","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-perth-courts","18":"tag-perth-news","19":"tag-roger-cook","20":"tag-terror-attacks-in-wa","21":"tag-terrorism-in-western-australia","22":"tag-wa-courts","23":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511590","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=511590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}