An African man accused of threatening people with a knife in a troubled Melbourne suburb has released on bail, just two months after a similar alleged incident involving the local mayor.
Victoria Police were called to Byron Street in crime-ravaged Footscray, home to a dangerous Little Africa precinct, on Wednesday after reports a man was wielding a knife.
Officers then arrested a 37-year-old man and charged with him with possessing a controlled weapon and possessing methylamphetamine, but he was granted bail to appear in court in April. Police said there were no reports of injuries to members of the public.
Furious locals shared a photo of the man, and said he allegedly threatened a lady and a shopkeeper with the knife.
In early August the same man was arrested after allegedly assaulting a shopkeeper and threatening Maribyrnong Mayor Mohamed Semra, the first Sudanese mayor in Australia, and local councillor Pradeep Tiwari with a hunting knife.
But he was back on the same street just two hours after the mayor incident after police only issued him with an infringement notice for possessing a controlled weapon.
After Wednesday’s incident Mr Tiwari responded to a complaint from a man in a local Facebook group by writing “I genuinely believe he needs urgent mental health support”.
“He was clearly not in a good state when he [allegedly] pulled a knife on the Mayor and me previously, and from what we are seeing now, I am seriously concerned that things haven’t improved,” he said.
“In my view, police and ambulance should be working together to ensure people experiencing these kinds of episodes receive an urgent mental health assessment and, where appropriate, are taken directly to the hospital’s psychiatric unit.”
But another fed-up local asked why Mayor Semra had not spoken out.
“Gone silent on this? This is the guy you used to promote yourself on TV for more police patrols, we can see how well that went,” he said.
“Footscray is doomed under this mayor and council unless they clean up their act and the place. It’s never been this much of a shithole in its history. Well done Mr Mayor.”
“And the lefties will tell us he needs a hug and we are racist because he probably has mental health problems,” another said.
“People like him should never be in this country in the first place.. Shame on every judge, politician and leftie who advocates for these people in our community.”
Header image: The man during the alleged incident (Facebook).
