Man arrested over alleged Melbourne New Year’s Eve terror plot

From the Brisbane Times.

A man has been arrested after allegedly planning to carry out a terrorist attack with an automatic rifle at Melbourne’s Federation Square on New Year’s Eve this year.

The 20-year-old man, who was arrested in Werribee on Monday afternoon, was allegedly planning to shoot and kill as many people as he could in Federation Square.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner Shane Patton said the Australian-born Muslim with Somalian parents sought to purchase, but did not acquire, an automatic weapon to carry out the attack that could have had “horrendous” consequences. “We have been monitoring him for a very lengthy period of time,” Mr Patton said. “He’s an Australian citizen and of Somalian parents.”

The young man was in possession of an al-Qaeda guidebook on how to carry out terrorism attacks and is an Islamic State sympathiser, police allege.

“He has accessed documents produced by al-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula … a guidebook in respect to how to commit a terrorist act and also how to use firearms, guns and handguns and rifles,” Mr Patton said.

“He is associated with other persons in the Victorian extremists community … it is a very small community of extremists. The potential of the attack is catastrophic. This is a person who has expressed an intention to try and kill as many people as he could. It’s horrendous. . . “

The man is expected to be charged later on Tuesday with engaging in acts in preparation for a terrorist offence and collecting documents to facilitate a terrorist act.

Police expect him to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court later today or the early hours of tomorrow. VictoriaPolice, Australian Federal Police and ASIO were involved in the investigation that resulted in the young man’s arrest. Police do not anticipate further arrests.