A woman charged with intimidation and publicly threatening violence on the grounds of religion after an incident at a Kmart in southwest Sydney is accused of driving her car at a school principal just days earlier.
Kelly Farrugia, 39, was captured allegedly screaming abuse at a mother and her daughter at a Kmart in Bankstown after spotting their pro-Palestine outfits.
She stood in front of the pair, who filmed the encounter, for several seconds before finally asking them ‘Are you proud of wearing “From the river to the sea?”,’ referring to the slogan extensively used by the pro-Palestine movement.
The phrase refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which includes Israel and which many Palestinians say should be part of Palestine.
‘You are… get f***** Allah,’ she said. ‘Every f****** day. F*** off.’
Police have now alleged in court Farrugia narrowly avoided hitting the Granville Boys High School principal Noel Dixon with her car outside the school on December 18.
‘It’s a long story,’ Farrugia told Acting Magistrate Ray Plibersek at Parramatta Bail Court, the Daily Telegraph reported.
‘I got a phone call from police telling me that they have been recording me and if I do anything they are threatening me with an AVO.’
A woman (pictured) who is being called a ‘Zionist Karen’ stunned a mother and daughter in a Kmart outlet after she took great offence to their outfits
Farrugia claimed in court Mr Dixon was ‘using the school as his own Pentagon‘.
Mr Dixon is not accused of any wrongdoing.
As well as facing charges over the Kmart incident, Farrugia is also charged with common assault and intimidation over the incident outside Granville Boys High School.
Police prosecutor Sgt Bassin opposed bail, saying police will allege Farrugia has a predisposition to ‘racially motivated stereotyping or targeting’.
‘That’s concerning, particularly the matter that occurred within the Kmart, where she appears to have no prior interactions with the complainants,’ he said.
‘These are people just going about their business, doing their shopping, when they’re confronted with quite significant intimidation and slurs.’
Sgt Bassin said the incident allegedly involving Mr Dixon posed a risk to the public.
‘There were other students on the roundabout at the time. What does indicate it was very close to the actual complainant is that he felt the wind of the vehicle – the car must have come very close, and it’s fortunate there’s no collision,’ he said.
The woman (pictured) shouted and used foul language when she saw her fellow customers wearing pro-Palestine t-shirts
Mr Khan, a legal aid solicitor, said Farrugia had an ‘annoyance or disdain’ of people of a certain faith.
Farrugia was given bail on the conditions of living with her father, keeping a curfew between 9pm and 5am and not going within 500m of Granville or Bankstown.
‘It’s theirs, they can have it,’ Farrugia said.
She is due back in court next month.
