By Grace Burmas, ABC
Police have charged an 18-year-old Huntingdale man over allegedly displaying a Nazi symbol. Photo: ABC News / Keane Bourke
Police have arrested and charged an 18-year-old man who was allegedly spotted wearing a Nazi symbol near a mosque in Perth's south-eastern suburbs.
Officers were conducting proactive patrols in the vicinity of a mosque on Mills Road West in Gosnells at about 8:20am on Tuesday.
The man was allegedly wearing a black face covering and a necklace displaying a Nazi symbol.
He was arrested and later charged with one count of displaying a Nazi symbol in public and one count of failing to obey police orders.
The teenager is due in court next month. Photo: ABC News / Mya Kordic
The man from Huntingdale is due to appear before Armadale Magistrates Court in January.
Increased patrols after Bondi
Officers were patrolling the area as part of a specific operation launched by WA Police to increase their presence around places of worship.
Operation Dalewood was created in response to the Bondi Beach terror attack, to reinforce a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism.
Speaking on Monday, Police Minister Reece Whitby said officers will provide a "saturation" presence around such locations.
"The focus of Operation Dalewood will be to offer as much support and assistance as we possibly can to the New South Wales Police and New South Wales authorities as they grapple in the aftermath of this terror attack," he said.
Whitby says police are ramping up their presence at places of worship. Photo: ABC News / Keane Bourke
"The other focus of Operation Dalewood will be the saturation in terms of police security presence in an overt and covert manner at places of worship - at schools, at community organisations right across Perth."
WA Premier Roger Cook indicated there was no heightened threat in Western Australia in the wake of the shootings.
Mosque incident
Police were investigating a separate incident at the Masjid Al-Rahman Mosque in Gosnells in October.
Authorities said the offender poured non-flammable motor oil across the main entrance but did not attempt to ignite the fluid.
The incident was being investigated by the State Security Investigation Group - a division of the WA Police that deals with threats that are religious, racially or ideologically motivated.
The ABC is not suggesting the two incidents are linked.
- ABC
