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Authorities in Western Australia have charged a man in connection with an incident involving a device filled with screws and ball bearings thrown at a rally in Perth on January 26.
The Invasion Day event drew a large crowd to Forest Place in the city center by midday on Monday, as participants gathered to hear speeches.
According to the police, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a 31-year-old man from Warwick allegedly hurled a glass object, about the size of a medium coffee cup, containing an unidentified liquid and shrapnel, into the assembly.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch, speaking at a press conference on Monday, stated, “Witnesses saw a male individual throw an object in front of the stage area.”
He continued, “Those witnesses promptly alerted the police, who then apprehended the individual responsible. The man suggested that the device could be explosive.”
“Forensics are currently doing what they need to do to identify what that liquid is.”
Commissioner Blanch thanked rally organisers for their help in “immediately” evacuating the area following the incident.
The man has been charged with making or possessing an explosive, and committing an act with intent to cause harm.
He will appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Clashes with anti-immigration marches
Police were out in force elsewhere around the nation, protecting against potential clashes between the March for Australia and Invasion Day groups.
In Melbourne, the two demonstrations snaked through the city only streets apart, with each ending where the other began.
“Please, do not engage,” was the advice Gunnai and Gunditjmara activist Meriki Onus gave Invasion Day protesters ahead of potential run-ins.
Among those who addressed the Invasion Day rally was Millie Ingram, who read a statement on behalf of Uncle Mark Brown, a Burunong Elder.
Protesters then marched chanting “Always was, always will be” and “What do we want? Land rights. When do we want them? Now.”
The largely peaceful Invasion Day march concluded near Flinders Street Station, where the March for Australia rally had begun earlier in the day.
At that protest, chants of “deportation” and “send them back” were heard as attendees waved Australian flags and carried signs supporting Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.
As the group moved towards the steps of parliament, loud boos erupted as protesters passed the Immigration Museum.
Riot and mounted police lined the streets, guiding demonstrators, including neo-Nazi members dressed in plain clothes.
