An aboriginal man has been jailed for pretending to hold a rifle at the scene of the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack and shouting “f**k the Jews”.
Zayne McMillan, a 23-year-old bricklayer from Dubbo, appeared in a Sydney court by videolink from custody on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to three counts of behaving in an offensive manner in public and two counts of intimidation.
Judge Michael Barko sentenced him to 12 months’ imprisonment with a nine-month non-parole period by Judge Michael Barko, who noted McMillan was on parole at the time.
The court heard McMillan was on a cocktail of drugs and alcohol when he stood on the Bondi footbridge on January 31 with another man and mimicked shooting a gun while yelling “f**k the Jews”, “I’m a Koori, I can do what I like”, and “I’m aboriginal, this is my land”, Newswire reported.
When members of the public told him to go away, he said “I’m a Koori. This is my land. F**k the Jews”, and told a man who was with his family “I’ll f**kin bash ya. This is my f**kin land”, according to court documents.
McMillan jumped a fence and fled when police were flagged down, but 20 minutes later while riding a hired bike he shouted “f**king Jews” at a Jewish man and his son who were on their way to a synagogue and were recognisably Jewish due to their hats.
Defence lawyer Stephen Alexander told the court his client suffered from complex PTSD from his deprived childhood, was heavily intoxicated, and was not anti-Semitic, the Australian Associated Press reported.
“What he did say was anti-Semitic but he didn’t go out of his way to be an anti-Semite. He does not consider himself as being a racist towards the Jewish community,” Mr Alexander said.
But Judge Barko rejected that submission, saying McMillan had singled out Jews, and “not one other faith, belief or culture was referred to” during the 35-minute period where the offences took place.
In sentencing the judge told the court the Bondi massacre “ripped a hole a hole not just through the Jewish community, but it ripped out the heart and soul of the Australian community as well that it could have occurred on our sunny shores”.
“[The terror attack] was horrific, it was gut-wrenching, it was just a developing ongoing drama and trauma.”
McMillan’s friend is also facing charges over the footbridge incident, and police have issued a warrant for his arrest.
Header image: Left, right, Zayne McMillan (supplied).
