This year on Invasion Day in Boorloo, a day meant for protest and remembrance, an act of terrorism was committed against Indigenous people and protest attendees at the annual Forrest Chase rally. 
A homemade bomb full of screws, ball bearings and combustible liquids was thrown into the crowd and in front of the stage. This was a violent hate crime against First Nations people.

An attack clearly intended to harm and kill Aboriginal people and supporters, who gathered to exercise their right to protest January 26 events being a day of celebration rather than mourning. 
This was a targeted terrorist attack aimed at silencing voices and instilling fear among those advocating for truth-telling and change, yet WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch stated that there were no political or ideological motivations behind this attack.

The City of Perth, WA Police, government officials and mainstream media have responded poorly to the incident by minimising it and refusing to describe it accurately. In doing so, they risk emboldening other racist, right wing agitators to commit further acts of violence and terror.
Terrorism, by definition, involves acts intended to cause fear and unrest, and this incident wholly fits that description. 

Yet the WA Police have inexplicably decided to treat the alleged bomb maker’s crime only as “a hostile act” and delay justice by investigating whether or not terrorism and hate crime charges should be laid. In so doing showing an alarming double standard and bias that hinders community safety. It is indisputable that if this had happened at any Australia Day event, rather than a protest rally in opposition to Australia Day, it would be correctly called terrorism and treated with the severity such an attack would warrant.

Only through sheer luck of failing to detonate was this bomb prevented from being a weapon causing - in the WA Police’s own words - a mass casualty event.

Labelling this as an act of terrorism will acknowledge the severity of the attack, provide some semblance of justice for those affected and prevent more right-wing extremist acts of violence in the future. It is the only honest and transparent response to this event.

The WA Police have failed to correctly identify and handle the incident as a terrorist act and caused further harm to rally-goers by sowing confusion and using unnecessary acts of force against peaceful protestors, specifically the Aboriginal attendees, some of whom were elders. 
Meanwhile the attempted bomber was spoken to quietly and politely before being led calmly into custody.
Hardly the arrest you would expect of someone that had just thrown a bomb into a crowd of people in the heart of the CBD.

Please join us in insisting that the alleged bomb thrower at the Boorloo Invasion Day rally be charged with terrorism and hate crimes and that Commissioner Blanch and the WA Police apologise for their unhelpful and overhanded conduct.

Additionally WA Premier Roger Cook needs to stand by his constituents and advocate for their safety by taking a public stance against the rise in far-right extremism and white supremacist ideology in our communities that led to this event. 
By signing this petition, you are standing in solidarity with First Nations peoples, rally attendees, and advocates calling for justice.