A 19-year-old Sydney teen is set to face court after allegedly making online death threats against Israeli President Isaac Herzog ahead of the president’s visit to Australia.
Police allege Newtown man Darcy Tinning also made threats towards US President Donald Trump in the same series of social media posts.
Tinning was charged with using a carriage service to make a death threat after police raided his Newtown home on Wednesday. Officers allegedly seized a mobile phone and drug paraphernalia during the search.
Under section 474.15 of the Criminal Code, “using a carriage service to make a death threat” carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Tinning is expected to appear in court on Thursday, where the allegation that he used social media to threaten the Israeli president and the US president will be formally put before a magistrate.
The investigation has been handled by the Australian Federal Police’s National Security Investigations team, one of the specialist units established by Commissioner Krissy Barrett to focus on high‑harm conduct that can fuel extremism and communal tension. Barrett has previously described these teams as “a flying squad of hate disrupters who focus on high-harm, high-impact politically motivated violence, communal violence and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for terrorism investigations but drive fear and division”.
Herzog is due in Australia for a five-day visit that follows the Bondi terror attack, with his trip expected to include Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
He was invited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on 23 December to “grieve with the Jewish community after the Bondi massacre”, according to local reporting of the visit arrangements.
The case comes as NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirms special protest powers will remain in place ahead of demonstrations planned over Herzog’s visit.
“We are still less than two months from what is the worst terrorist incident in New South Wales’ history,” he said, adding there was “significant animosity” around the visit and that “a large-scale public assembly with so much animosity could present a risk to community safety”.
“We want to ensure that free speech is enshrined but we need to make sure that is balanced by community safety.”
The Palestine Action Group in Sydney are still planning a protest on Monday 9 February.
Lead image: AP News
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