Shelton says he is sceptical of police claim that incident was not ‘politically, religiously or ideologically motivated’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Lyle Shelton has refused to retract his claims a van explosion was targeted at the Australian Christian Lobby, adding he is “sceptical” of the police’s conclusion the incident was not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated.

On Wednesday evening a van exploded next to a building in Deakin that houses the ACL.

Australian Capital Territory policing said in a statement the driver “appeared to have ignited gas cylinders within the vehicle”.

Based on a brief conversation with the driver at Canberra hospital, police concluded his actions were not “politically, religiously or ideologically motivated”.

Before that statement Shelton, the ACL executive director, repeatedly linked the explosion to ACL’s political advocacy and suggested it was targeted at the Christian group, which has opposed the Safe Schools program and same-sex marriage.

Australian Christian Lobby van explosion not politically motivated, police say Read more

“Obviously ... you don’t just drive around the corner here at 10 o’clock at night, park a van loaded with gas cylinders then detonate it unless you’re trying to send a message to the ACL,” Shelton had told a press conference at the scene.

“I’m sure it’s a message to intimidate us, to cause us to be silent in the public square, and that’s something we’re not prepared to do.”

After the police statement, Shelton told ABC News “as much as I obviously respect the police and the work they do, I’m a little bit sceptical”.

“This seems too much of a coincidence [that] this could be solely the motivation of someone who was just acting without any targeted motive,” he said. “He was pulled from a burning wreck when he gave that statement. He has grievous injuries.”

Shelton said it was too early to rule out that ACL was targeted and claimed that “whilst the police had come to their view, they said they couldn’t rule it in or out when they spoke to me on the phone”.

ACT policing deputy chief police officer Mark Walters had said the police were “confident” in ruling out religious, political or ideological motives but would not be drawn on how they had established this in the interview with the driver.

In an earlier interview with Sky News, Shelton said: “I stress I don’t know the motivation of last night’s attack but I’m very concerned members of parliament, particularly on the extreme left, refer to us in the parliament as hate groups [and] as bigots. That doesn’t help the situation. If there are people who are a bit unhinged out there, that sort of rhetoric doesn’t help that.

“I think as a society we’ve got to have civil debate and we’ve got to stop the name-calling and the slurs.”

In an interview with ABC News Breakfast, Shelton had said he “never thought our office would be the subject of a car bomb attack”.

“This is not the sort of thing that I thought would occur when I joined ACL almost 10 years ago to be involved in political and public advocacy.”

Shelton said he did not know of the motivation of “last night’s attack” but said it occurred in the context of the ACL receiving “multiple death threats and threats of violence over the course of this year”.

He attributed the threats to ACL’s advocacy against marriage equality and “our concern over the so-called Safe Schools program, which teaches children that their gender is fluid”.

Walters said ACT policing investigators had spoken to ACL staff about alleged threats and would continue investigations into them.