Simon Fleming wiki

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Who is Simon Fleming ?

Simon Fleming allegedly took an employee hostage inside a dive shop, where he was arrested by police.

A man who allegedly fired on passing cars and pedestrians before barricading himself in a dive shop last year has been charged with an additional terrorism felony.

Arrested and Charged

Simon Fleming, 40, was arrested at the scene and charged with six counts after he allegedly shot bystanders and then barricaded himself inside a dive shop in Windang, south Wollongong, around 9:30 a.m. am on November 28.

He allegedly held the store owner briefly before turning himself in an hour later to heavily armed officers who had set up a perimeter at the scene.

Police said guns, knives and devices were seized from his Windang home, as well as white supremacist material suggesting a fixation with the military and Nazis.

When he appeared in court via video link in Wollongong for a bail review on Wednesday, he was charged with an additional offense of involvement in a terrorist act.

The maximum penalty for that crime is life in prison.

Investigation

The additional charge followed an investigation by the NSW Police Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes members of the federal police and ASIO.

A request for bail was withdrawn following the additional charge.

The investigation found that Fleming was willing to commit violent acts and possessed documents containing extremist ideologies, some of which were his own, police allege.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mark Walton said the Windang siege was “frightening to the public and of great concern”, being “consistent with messages of threat from the police and security agency that we have been doing for some time.”

“Our current threat comes from lone actors, particularly people with a mixed ideology and ideologies,” he said.

“They really move in any point of view and are very much influenced by what they’re picking up and consuming on the Internet.”

Ideologies differ and mix, but the foundation of most of them is anti-government sentiment, and the constant consumption of online content that fuels their ideology increases the threat of people moving from ideas to action, says Walton.

Fleming was allegedly in possession of two firearms when he fired at passing cars and pedestrians before barricading himself in the store.

Simon Fleming Quick and Facts

• Simon Fleming, 40, accused of shooting at pedestrians in Wollongong’s south
• Then allegedly barricaded himself inside a dive shop in Windang about 9.30am
• Allegedly briefly held store owner hostage before surrendering to armed police
• Initially charged with six offences; new charge of engaging in terrorist act added
• White supremacist material suggesting fixation with Nazis seized from his home