Detectives attached to NSW Police’s terrorism investigation squad charged a man over alleged death threats sent to Brittany Higgins, including threats of “chopping up” her dog. What the actual F.
Police were already investigating the man over other threats allegedly made against people who attended a “mass gathering”, a statement released on Thursday read.
Officers allegedly uncovered 49 similar threats/offensive material from multiple social media accounts which they believe to be linked, including threats against Higgins and her partner David Sharaz.
“Further inquiries revealed one of the accounts was also linked to messages sent on social media to a man in the ACT, allegedly threatening to kill the man, his partner, and their pet dog,” police said.
Screenshots seen by Guardian Australia reportedly show Sharaz received messages saying a user knew where he and Higgins were, and that they would both be followed home and buried.
“I will kill you both when you least expect it,” one user wrote, per Guardian Australia.
“I’m going to chop Kingston [their dog, a toy cavoodle] up into little pieces.”
After a long investigation — the threats were reportedly made last year and reported to Queensland police initially — a 49-year-old man was arrested by Terrorism Investigation Squad detectives at Tweed Heads Police Station on Wednesday and charged with use carriage service to make a threat (threat to kill) and use carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
He was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court on Wednesday 31 May.
“There is no current or impending threat to the community as a result of this operational activity,” police said in a statement.
The arrest comes after the eSafety Commissioner made an unprecedented move to force Twitter to take down hateful content aimed at Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz earlier this month.
The couple have been the subject of all kinds of demonic misogyny and online vitriol since Higgins went public with allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament. The rape trial was aborted due to jury misconduct and the charges against the accused, Bruce Lehrmann, have since been dropped.
However this hasn’t stop the hate directed at Higgins and Sharaz, who recently got engaged.
Guardian Australia reported they were forced to spend thousands of dollars on a home security system for their own safety, and Sharaz was told not to take the same routes to and from work.
I can’t imagine what that terror would feel like.
Help is available. If you in immediate danger, call 000.
If you’d like to report online abuse, you can contact the police or reach out to the Australian eSafety Commissioner here.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
