Bondi gunman dropped to bottom tier of terror watchlist before alleged attack

Naveed Akram was one of more than 5000 names on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities before he allegedly opened fire on Jewish families at Bondi Beach, a number that exposes both the scale of Australia’s threats and the near-impossible task of policing them.

This masthead can also reveal new details of Akram’s legal strategy, and that guards often find him in tears in his isolation cell, as well as an al-Qaeda cleric’s hold on him and his slain father.

Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, allegedly shot dead 15 people at Chanukah by the Sea in December using legally acquired shotguns and rifles.

Sajid, 50, was killed by NSW Detective Senior Constable Cesar Barraza with his police-issued Glock pistol. The younger Akram was badly injured but survived. Explosives and Islamic State flags were found in their car.

This month, the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion aired scant details about how Naveed Akram allegedly managed to stay off the radar in the years before the attack, despite being interviewed by counter-terrorism squads in 2019.

A Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which included spy agency ASIO, Australian Federal Police and NSW Police, was aware that Akram was on the periphery of an IS cell clustering in Bankstown.

Authorities placed Akram on a National Known Entity Management List around that time. The NKEM has four tiers, with one being reserved for individuals under active counter-terrorism investigation.

This masthead can reveal that Akram was initially designated a tier three following the IS probe in 2019, then dropped to tier four. That choice was made after interviews and “engagements” with numerous agencies revealed no signs of radicalisation, sources close to the investigation say.

Tiers three and four are reserved for people who are known to counter-terrorism authorities, and have about 5000 people listed.

The large number means police must prioritise active surveillance to the top tiers and limit the time spent monitoring those in tiers three and four.

Akram, meanwhile, has spoken to police four times, sources told this masthead. He is being held in isolation in Goulburn Supermax, and has been recently discovered crying in his cell on various occasions.

“Get used to it,” one officer said, noting that Akram is facing a lengthy wait until trial.

Akram has yet to signal a plea to the dozens of counts of murder, attempted murder, wounding and terrorism, and more charges on the way, sources with knowledge of the case said.

Other sources said Akram is laying the groundwork to claim he was the “lackey” to his father, who had either coerced or brainwashed him into allegedly carrying out Australia’s worst modern terror attack.

Akram had links to a street preaching group in Bankstown in 2019 that had hosted other IS sympathisers. But Sajid’s path to extremism has been harder to trace.

What is known is that the war in Gaza was behind Sajid’s decision to attack Jewish Australians, a police source said. They said this was clear from the “confronting” video manifesto allegedly showing the Akrams in front of IS flags, discussing their plans.

In 2020, Sajid renewed a decade-long quest to acquire a gun licence, which was granted in 2023 despite his son’s prior associations. In October that same year, terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, triggering retaliation in Gaza.

This masthead previously reported that IS organisers have capitalised on the Gaza war, and it probably formed much of the motive for Sajid Akram to carry out the attack on Jewish Australians.

Sources aware of the Akrams’ history say they were consuming a “mixture” of extremist elements both in Australia and from abroad.

Among them were the preachings of al-Qaeda cleric and organiser Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-Yemeni killed in 2011 in a drone strike ordered by then US president Barack Obama.

Al-Awlaki has played an outsized role in influencing English-speaking jihadists, with experts saying 88 extremists have been motivated by his preaching in Europe and the United States.

Those attacks have included the Fort Hood shooting in Texas, where 13 people were shot dead by a US Army major and psychiatrist, and the attempted downing of a plane by a bomber with plastic explosives in his underwear, both in 2009. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, the 2015 San Bernardino shooters and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooter were also acolytes.

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