Second man arrested over synagogue hate crime

Source: NSW Police
A second man has been arrested over an alleged attempt to set a Jewish synagogue on fire in Sydney’s Newtown earlier this month.
Detectives attended a hotel on Pyrmont Street, Darling Harbour, about 1pm on Thursday and tasered and apprehended the 37-year-old.
It followed the arrest of Adam Edward Moule, 33, on Tuesday over the Newtown incident.
Moule was charged with two arson and property damage-related offences, as well as possessing suspected stolen goods and cultivating a prohibited cannabis plant.
Police allegedly found five debit cards in different names, and from different financial institutions, in Moule’s possession, which they believe were stolen.
Newtown Synagogue, in Sydney’s inner-west, was spray-painted with red Nazi swastikas and briefly set alight early on January 11.
It was one of a series of recent cases in which Jewish facilities and communities were targeted in arson and graffiti attacks, sparking a major police investigation involving state and federal officers.
Australian Federal Police are probing 15 serious incidents since December. They are investigating the possibility that overseas actors have paid local criminals to carry out some of the attacks.
Following the attack, police released images of two hooded figures they believed might have been involved, one of whom they said was riding a mountain bike and the other a motorised scooter.
The offenders ignited a clear liquid that burned out in minutes, but it could have had deadly consequences if it had taken hold, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said at the time.
Strike force detectives raided two properties in Camperdown, not far from the synagogue, and seized items for further examination.
The allegations against the Moule and others charged over separate incidents carried heavy penalties, but the charges could also potentially be upgraded to include terrorism offences, Webb said.
A total of nine people, including Moule, have been charged under Strike Force Pearl.
The other eight are:
- Four men – aged 31, 37, 40 and 26 – charged following fires at two businesses in Bondi in October 2024
- Three men – aged 20,19 and 21 – charged after 10 vehicles and buildings were allegedly deliberately damaged in Woollahra in November 2024
- A woman, 34, charged after vehicles and buildings were allegedly deliberately damaged in Woollahra in December 2024.
-with AAP