Police armed with assault rifles patrol Sydney in Australian first after Bondi attack

A new police unit ⁠armed with military ⁠assault rifles has ⁠begun patrolling the streets of Sydney, in an Australian-first measure set up in response to the Bondi Beach attack last December.

The Armed Response ‌Command (ARC) would deploy at major events, crowded public spaces, sporting venues and places of worship to conduct “high visibility” patrols, New South Wales state police said.

The move comes after two men opened fire on ⁠a Jewish celebration at the famous beach, killing 15 people ‌in an antisemitic attack motivated by Islamic State ideology.

The A$94 million (US$66.08 million) unit is ‌composed of 250 police officers armed with Australian combat ⁠assault ⁠rifles. It is the first of its kind in Australia, ‌where the presence of heavily armed police officers is rare.

“The tragic events at ‌Bondi ‌demonstrated the devastating consequences when an alleged armed offender ‌attacks innocent people,” said the unit’s commander, Detective Superintendent Andrew Evans.

“ARC ensures we have highly trained officers in the right places, ⁠with the right equipment, ready to act when seconds matter.”

Amnesty International Australia said the introduction ‌of heavily armed police ‌patrols in Sydney raised “serious questions about the increasing militarisation of policing and the safeguards in place to protect human rights”.

Bondi Beach terror attack suspect Naveed Akram, 25, is being tried on 78 charges – including 15 counts of murder, 43 of attempted murder and one of committing a terrorist act. He has yet to enter any plea. His father, Sajid, was shot dead at the scene by police.

Last week, the case was adjourned to February 24 after prosecutors asked for more time to review over 1,500 witness statements and hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.

The delay in the case came as Australian police charged another man over allegedly claiming he had been injured in the massacre and seeking compensation.

Police said they arrested the 46-year-old man and charged him with publishing false or misleading material to obtain an advantage and with false representation which led to a police investigation. He was bailed last Tuesday to appear in court in Parramatta, in Sydney’s western suburbs, this month.

Police have not detailed which scheme the suspect had attempted to scam. The state government offered Bondi victims up to A$5,000 for those injured and triple that sum for relatives of victims who had died. The government also offered victims up to AU$30,000 for economic loss.