Victoria Police has completed its preliminary investigation into an alleged Islamophobic attack where a man allegedly threatened to kill community members and is considering what charges could be laid.
On March 8, an uninvited man entered a community dinner in Ballarat, where he allegedly started punching guests, intimidating children, and shouting racial death threats such as “f Allah, f Islam, death to Allah” and “go back to the s***hole where you come from.”
Ballarat Police Acting Superintendent Jason Templar said if there was sufficient evidence, the man could be charged under hate speech laws.
“The brief of evidence is currently with our legal services division for review to identify the most appropriate charges,” he said.
Alleged intruder responds
The alleged intruder, a 37-year-old Ballarat man, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was attacked when he entered the Iftar dinner at a community hall to ask for help after his house was broken into by people unconnected to the dinner.
“I woke up to people trying to intrude into my house,” the man said.
“I chased after [the intruders] and lost them towards the community center and then I went in there.”
He said the reason he was shoeless and shirtless at the time of the incident was that he had been sleeping and did not have time to put on clothes when intruders allegedly broke into his home.
He said he did not report the alleged break-in to police, and did not plan to ask police to press charges for the assault he alleges took place when he entered the community center.
“I just opened the [community center] door at the wrong place and the wrong time obviously – they’ve seen me as a threat,” the man said.
“They grabbed me and they had me in a chicken wing sort of situation, my elbow is still not really great from it.”
The man denied making racist comments.
“If I had said something like what was discussed, I would have been charged,” he said.
“I could’ve [said things] after being assaulted, but it wouldn’t have been anything as racially vilifying as what was said in [previous reporting].
“All this stuff – I don’t speak like that.”
He denied being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the alleged incident.
‘No interview, no charges, no nothing’
The alleged intruder said on the night of the incident, police spoke to him and walked him home.
“The cops just had a [talk] to me and said ‘looks like you’ve had a rough night’ and they walked me home,” he said.
The man said that after seeing the ABC’s coverage of the incident, he voluntarily spoke to police.
“I took myself to the police station and they just said nothing at all really and just let me go again,” he said.
“No interview, no charges, no nothing.”
The man said police did not take a statement from him when he visited the police station.
“I have not been contacted once by anyone from Victoria Police,” he said.
A Victoria police spokesperson said “the police have engaged with the man removed from the dinner since the initial incident”.
Claims disputed
The ABC has spoken to multiple dinner attendees who strongly disputed the alleged intruder’s version of events.
One witness said he attempted to take the man by the hand and lead him from the venue to avoid conflict but alleges he was then assaulted by the alleged intruder.
Another witness said they could smell alcohol on the man, while eight separate witnesses have individually alleged that the man was making racist comments and threats.
Police did not respond to questions about whether the man was believed to be intoxicated or drug-affected at the time of the incident, or whether there was any CCTV to confirm the events of the night in question.
