Man charged after allegedly drawing Nazi symbols in Sydney in latest antisemitism crackdown arrest | New South Wales

The New South Wales police strike force investigating antisemitism has charged another person, after officers alleged they saw a man drawing Nazi symbols including a swastika in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

In a statement, police said that officers from the Strike Force Pearl proactive team were performing “high-visibility patrols” about 4.30pm on Friday when they saw a man allegedly using a marker pen to write on a wall in Anzac Parade, Kingsford.

Police arrested the man, and then saw the wall had been “defaced with a number of drawings and writings, including a Nazi symbol and a swastika”, the force claimed.

The man, 37, was taken to Maroubra police station and charged with “knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse”.

He was refused bail and was due to appear before Parramatta local court on Saturday.

The force also announced on Saturday morning that a planned doubling of investigative resources announced earlier this week had now come into effect.

There were 40 dedicated investigators who had been deployed to the strike force, which had charged 11 people – a number that was expected to increase, the NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said.

“Children shouldn’t feel scared to go to school, people shouldn’t feel afraid to go to prayer or practice their religion,” she said.

“The extra investigators under Strike Force Pearl means those who commit antisemitic acts will be caught and brought before the courts.

“I want to reassure the Jewish community that we will do everything we can to find the perpetrators of these hateful crimes.”

Webb and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, spoke to reporters on Saturday morning.

Minns said the government planned to progress laws regarding hate speech and would consider harsher penalties for those who committed racist attacks.

“I want to make it clear whether it is malicious damage, vandalism, graffiti, or whether it is a potential mass casualty event, terrorism in our streets, we regard all of it as appalling and will do everything we possibly can to combat it.

“I am of the strong belief that violent acts don’t begin with violent acts, they begin with hateful words at some point earlier in the process.”

Webb said that further attacks were possible.

“We are reassuring the community that we are there to address those concerns as best we can.

“We are all on record saying we cannot guarantee that there won’t be attacks but we can certainly assure the community as police we are there to investigate every single matter and arrest those involved and bring them before the court.”