Seven Arrested in Sydney have Extremist Ideology: Police

Seven men who were arrested in southwest Sydney on Thursday over alleged plans to commit a violent act have ideological links to the perpetrators of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia, police said on Friday.

The group of seven men was arrested by heavily armed tactical operations officers in the suburb of Liverpool, 28 kilometers southwest of central Sydney, on Thursday afternoon after police received information that a violent act was possibly being planned.

Speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio on Friday morning, New South Wales (NSW) Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said that police believe the men have links to extremist ideology.

It comes after two men, who authorities say were motivated by Islamic State (IS) ideology, opened fire on a crowd who had gathered to celebrate the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday night. Sixteen people, including one alleged gunman, were killed.

Hudson said that police have “some indication” that the group of seven men, who had traveled to Sydney from the neighboring state of Victoria, were planning to attend Bondi Beach.

He said that tactical officers had acted early to arrest the men before they could obtain any potential weapons.

“We made the decision that our tolerance for risk and threshold for risk is, as you can understand, very low at the moment following last Sunday’s atrocities,” Hudson said.  (RSS/XINHUA)