Police investigate video claiming responsibility for arson attack on Melbourne business

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Police are investigating a video purporting to be from a group responsible for an arson attack on a Melbourne business earlier this month.
In the early hours of July 5, arsonists targeted Lovitt Technologies Australia, a manufacturer, setting three vehicles alight and graffitiing a building.
The video, posted online by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), shows a person dressed head-to-toe in black standing in front of the Palestinian flag.
An altered voice plays over the video, with the speaker further threatening Lovitt Technologies and telling it to "stop arming Israel or else".
The speaker claims Lovitt Technologies was targeted for supplying parts to make F-35 fighter jets.
In 2023, the company secured a grant to help it continue working on the global F-35 program.
Israel uses a version of the F-35 fighter jet.
Lovitt Technologies declined to comment.
The origin of the video is unclear and it has not been verified by the ABC.
In one section of the video, the speaker says "every worker in the supply chain is complicit".
The video concludes with the speaker giving instructions on how to perpetrate an arson attack on a vehicle.
In the video, the speaker also mentions genocide in Australia due to colonisation and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are displayed in the foreground of the video.
The voiceover says: "Death to Israel. Death to Australia. Death to America".
Victoria Police said the July 5 attack on Lovitt Technologies was being investigated by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which also includes the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
The JCTT is also investigating the arson at the Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne in December last year.
"Investigators are aware of a video which has been circulating where a group has claimed responsibility for the incident," Victoria Police said.
"This video is being reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation."
The attack at Lovitt Technologies occurred shortly after an incident where the door to a synagogue in East Melbourne was set alight and protesters swarmed Israeli-owned restaurant Miznon in the city's CBD.
Sydney man Angelo Loras, 34, has been charged over the synagogue fire, and three protesters were charged over an altercation during the restaurant protest.
Police have said that no links had been established between any of the incidents, which reignited discussion about antisemitism in Australia.
Acting Premier Jaclyn Symes defended the Victorian government's response to the events on Monday and said she was aware of the circulating video but had not watched it.
"Apart from the fact it is hurtful, it is unacceptable, and I expect the appropriate authorities will deal with it as they see fit, she said.