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“Ultimately, it’s a balance when you investigate, for investigators and for the counterterrorism police, as to interdicting at a point in time where you mitigate all risk and threat, which you did yesterday, or waiting until you can get a brief of evidence against individuals with a bow on it that you can present to court,” Hudson said.
The group travelled to Sydney from Victoria, and had been under surveillance by Victorian Police.
No weapons or firearms were discovered in the hatchbacks, apart from one knife, though Hudson suggested that they may have been in process of acquiring weapons before an attack.
The men lined up after their arrest.Credit: Instagram
The white hatchback was stopped at the intersection of George and Campbell streets, Liverpool.Credit: Instagram
Earlier on Friday, Hudson said he held “significant concern” about the prospect of another public attack, and said the extraordinary tactics to detain the men were “the most appropriate for the circumstances”.
NSW Police said in a statement shortly after 8.15pm on Thursday that the operation had concluded and there was no ongoing risk to the community.
“Police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” the statement said.
In footage posted on social media, five men could be seen lying on the road and footpath. The vision shows one man whose head appears to be bleeding. In later footage, he appears to have been bandaged. Beanbag rounds were reportedly used to detain the men.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed her state’s police are supporting the NSW investigation into the movements of the seven men, but declined to offer further information into the incident.
“We’ve all seen the footage and the images of what has occurred ... but at this stage, there is just not enough information to speculate on why these people were travelling in this vehicle in this vicinity,” Allan said on Friday morning.
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