An Australian man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly rammed his truck into a historic synagogue in Brisbane, in an attack that has spurred calls for increased security from the synagogue’s rabbi, JTA reported.
Matthew De Campo, 32, of Sunnybank, was arrested on Feb. 20 after he allegedly backed his pickup truck into the Brisbane Synagogue in Queensland, Australia, narrowly missing a person as he struck its gates. He has been charged with willful damage, serious vilification or hate crime, dangerous driving and possession of a dangerous drug.
The ramming comes two months after gunmen opened fire on a Chanukah celebration in Sydney, killing 15 and injuring dozens more. Last month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the launch of a Royal Commission inquiry, the country’s highest level of inquiry.
In the wake of the attack, the Australian government also tightened gun ownership laws and introduced legislation to curb hate speech, efforts that have been echoed by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli, who earlier this month introduced a package of legislation to combat antisemitism.
“This is another signal as to why we have to put strong laws before parliament to protect all people where they worship,” wrote Crisafulli in a post on the social platform X following the attack.
Libby Burke, the vice president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, said that the local Jewish community had been “deeply distressed” by the incident, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“A synagogue is a sacred place, a place of prayer, reflection and community,” said Burke. “To see its gates viciously rammed is profoundly devastating and is not dissimilar to what we have seen throughout the globe, vehicles used as weapons to kill and harm Jews.”
North Brisbane District acting Superintendent Michael Hogan said that police did not consider the ramming a “terrorist act,” though he added that it was “definitely a targeted attack against the Jewish synagogue.”
During an appearance on Feb. 21 before the Brisbane Magistrates Court, De Campo, who represented himself, claimed that he “did not do any hate crime or anything like that” and said that he was a “man of good faith,” according to The Courier Mail.
“Last night was a bit of a brain snap and I believe there is something more sinister going on behind the scenes,” De Campo said.
Rabbi Levi Jaffe of the Brisbane Synagogue told The Australian that the attack had “shaken” his community, which had concluded Shabbat services shortly before the ramming.
“Friday night’s ramming of a synagogue, when prayers usually take place, seems to me like a pretty direct attack on a Jewish institution,” said Jaffe. “Lives could have been lost.”
