Man charged after threatening worshippers at Brisbane mosque

Worshippers at a Brisbane mosque, which was previously the target of a graffiti attack, were allegedly threatened by a man who entered the building and claimed he had a weapon outside on Sunday morning.

Director of the Masjid Taqwa mosque in Bald Hills, Kambiz Koshan, said the man had approached worshippers shortly before 11am and told them he had an AK-47 in his car outside the building.

Koshan said worshippers chased the man away from the Telegraph Road mosque and called police.

Police later tracked down a 33-year-old Mitchelton man, who was charged with one count each of creating a public nuisance, and disturbing a place of worship.

He is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 22.

Labor MP Bisma Asif, whose electorate includes Bald Hills, condemned the incident in a post made online about 1pm on Monday.

“A place of worship should be a place of peace. No one – regardless of their faith – should fear for their safety when they gather to pray,” she said.

Taking aim at specific comments made by Pauline Hanson, Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor earlier this year about Muslim Australians and immigration policy, Asif said politicians had given permission to the public to “attack their fellow Australians on the basis of their background or religion”.

“The Queensland Police Service takes all instances of threats against cultural and religious communities with the utmost seriousness,” police said in a statement on Monday morning.

“Everyone in Queensland has a right to feel safe, to not feel threatened or victimised. The QPS urges anyone who feels threatened or fearful by the actions of others to contact police.”

In an unrelated incident, the Bald Hills mosque was targeted by vandals in December, in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, when a swastika and the words “f--- Allah” and “No Muslims = peace” were sprayed on the building.

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