An African man who allegedly threatened a suburban Melbourne mayor with a hunting knife was back on the same street hours later, and is also accused of being involved in a violent brawl days earlier.
Maribyrnong Mayor Mohamed Semra was in the crime-plagued suburb of Footscray on Wednesday while on his way to a meeting with other mayors to call for a stronger police presence in the city’s western suburbs when he was confronted by the knife-wielding thug.
Mr Semra, who earlier this year became the first Sudanese mayor in Australia, was with predecessor Pradeep Tiwari and council CEO Celia Haddock when they saw the man assaulting a council cleaner in Footscray Mall, but were threatened after attempting to intervene.
“He brandished a knife and obviously it was a very frightening situation for all those involved,” Mr Semra said.
Video shows the man being searched and arrested, but he was then released by police and spotted back at the scene just two hours later by shopkeepers who pointed him out to 9News.
Victoria Police confirmed in a statement that “uniformed police attended and spoke with the male, who was in a possession of a knife”.
“He was moved on from the area and issued an infringement notice for possess a controlled weapon,” police said.
Mr Semra said the same man was involved in a violent attack on a shopkeeper in the same spot on Monday, which was also caught on video.
Video of the earlier incident:
Crumbz Deli owner Richard Le suffered a broken hand after being struck with a plank of wood with a nail through it when he tried to protect an elderly man and a young woman from a fight between two men.
“I saw an old man on the ground. Perhaps someone had knocked him over or he had ducked for cover, and a girl who was in tears was trying to help him up,” Mr Le told the Herald Sun.
“One of the guys was holding a stool and was about to throw it towards the girl and the man. ‘I thought if that stool hit them, it was going to be even worse’.”
The man with the stool then threw it at him, and Mr Le was then struck with the wooden plank.
But local African community activist Dr Berham Ahmed told 10 News he did not believe more arrests would solve Footscray’s crime problem.
“Police are taking these guys and putting them in prison for one week, one month, whatever, they come back, so these people need help,” he said.
Header image: Left, the man being arrested (Facebook). Right, the man back on the streets (9News).
