A Braybrook man has been charged with weapons offences after police received intelligence that several people were planning to bring weapons to an anti-immigration rally at Melton on Sunday.
Phillip Galea, 31, of Braybrook, was arrested on Thursday morning on suspicion of possessing explosives.
Investigators arrested Mr Galea in Ballarat Road about 8.30am.
A short time later he was taken to a nearby house in Ballarat Road where a search warrant was executed and the premises searched.
Police are still investigating several other people in the lead-up to what is feared could be a violent clash between the anti-Islam group Reclaim Australian and pro-immigration group No Room for Racism.
Mr Galea was charged on Thursday evening with one count of possessing a prohibited weapon and one count of possessing a precursor chemical.
Phillip Galea Photo: Facebook
Mr Galea appeared at an out-of-sessions hearing at City West police complex on Thursday night.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Brett Parker of the arson and explosives squad told the hearing police had executed two search warrants on Mr Galea’s home.
Tasers found
In the kitchen, he said police found a fabric bag containing five taser guns.
Describing the devices, Leading Senior Constable Parker said “it’s almost like a cattle prod. It’s designed to maim and disable someone.”
On the floor of the study, he said police found a glass bottle containing a silver-grey substance, which two arson chemists called to the scene believed was mercury, a precursor chemical for drug manufacture.
Leading Senior Constable Parker said a “cursory examination” by officers from the e-crime squad found on data storage devices a large amount of information related to the manufacture of explosives.
The search also found material related to the United Patriots Front, and a document called The Anarchist Cookbook, the hearing was told.
Mr Galea told the hearing he had no intention of harming anyone.
“At the moment, I’m actively involved in the patriots movement, which is why there would have been an awful amount of material,” he said.
He was remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.
Earlier on Thursday, as he was led to a police car, Mr Galea told Channel Seven: “Every Australian should attend Sunday’s anti-mosque rally, it’s our responsibility as Australians.”
Asked why, he replied: “Look what’s happened in France.”
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane confirmed several other people were in custody.
Following the terrorists attack in Paris on November 13, police have reassessed their approach to the expected clash and have urged those planning to attend to remain peaceful.
“Two opposing groups [will] come together and there are individuals within that group whose views are extreme.
“What we’re asking from anyone coming to the rally on Sunday, no matter which views you hold, is that you rally or demonstrate peacefully and that you think through what message you are trying to send,” he said, adding that the police presence would be “sufficient” .
The right-wing Reclaim Australia is planning to hold a protest in Melton on Sunday to protest against a planned mosque in Melton West and an Islamic school at a Victoria University campus.
A counter-rally by what the police called “socialist left” groups is expected.
This weekend’s rally will be the fourth confrontation between both sides this year, with two held in Bendigo and one in Melbourne’s CBD.
All three clashes have resulted in significant violence, with multiple arrests made and people injured.
-with Alana Schetzer and Aisha Dow/The Age
