Seven men arrested at gunpoint in dramatic scenes have accused police of threatening to ‘shoot them in the head’, and ‘making up bulls**t’ as they were freed from custody.
The group were stopped by heavily armed officers outside Westfield Liverpool in southwest Sydney on Thursday afternoon after police allegedly received information that ‘a violent act was possibly being planned’.
Police also received reports the men from Melbourne were possibly on their way to Bondi but have not found any connection to the investigation into last Sunday’s massacre at Sydney’s famous beach that claimed 15 innocent lives.
The group dubbed the so-called ‘Liverpool Seven’ were released on Friday afternoon without charge after they spent the night in custody.
Police found insufficient evidence to keep the men behind bars.
One of the men claimed to waiting media outside the station that the group had been racially profiled.
‘We didn’t do nothing wrong. My beliefs are we all live peacefully, we don’t give a f*** about no one,’ he said.
‘It was racism, what else could it be?
Several of the men broke their silence after the group were released without charge
Not all of the men were keen to show their faces as they left the station on Friday
‘They’re [the police] making bulls**t up, they can only hold us for six hours then they changed the charge from a state charge to a Commonwealth charge so they could hold us for 24 hours.
‘They’re just making up bullshit so they could hold us longer and find something cause they’re f**ked up.’
Footage of the dramatic arrest showed tactical officers patting down the group of men as they lay restrained on the road.
Two unmarked police 4WDs could also be seen to have crashed into the front of a white hatchback driven by the men.
Some of the men covered their faces as they left the police station on Friday, however others were happy to explain to how they had travelled from Victoria two days ago for a holiday.
‘[It was a] misunderstanding. We told [police] we were here for a holiday,’ he told 9News.
Another said: ‘We didn’t do nothing wrong. There was nothing was found on us. If we got a terrorism charge, we’d be locked up by now.’
Others accused the police of being ‘too aggressive’ and claimed they had been threatened to be ‘shot in the head’ during Thursday’s arrest.
Some were missing shoes or clothing and had prominent scars on their body.
Heavily armed officers arrested the group of in Liverpool after ramming into their vehicle
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said officers will continue to monitor the men while they are in Sydney
‘If my families watching love you all, hope you don’t think the worst of me,’ one told news.com.au.
‘[The police] are bugging absolutely bugging, they targeted us because we’re Muslims.
understand what the whole sensitivity with the Bondi situation but just coming for Muslims just like that cuz? We come from Melbourne bro like how we just gonna be attacked like that.’
Earlier on Friday, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed there was no link between the group and the Bondi Beach terror attack that claimed 15 lives.
He declined to confirm if one of the men was being investigated by ASIO.
‘We’re certainly looking at radical Islamist extremism as one of the ideologies behind these males,’ Lanyon told reporters.
He also said the motive of the group and the ‘potentially violent act’ they may have been planning is still unknown.
‘Whilst this specific threat posed by the males is unknown, I can say that the potential of a violent offence being committed was such that we were not prepared to tolerate the risk and interdict accordingly,’ he said.
‘The information received was that Bondi may have been one of a number of locations that the males were intending to attend, but the reason for attending is unknown.’
Police will continue to monitor the men while they are in Sydney.
