Two NSW south coast brothers who idolised the Christchurch massacre shooter were planning a terrorist attack before their arrest, a court has been told.
Joshua Lucas, 23 and Benjamin Lucas, 25, are standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court at Parramatta where they have pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges.
They are accused of planning to carry out an attack on Australian soil after posting a slew of racist and violent right-wing extremist material online, the court has been told.
Both have been charged with doing acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act, which carries a maximum possible sentence of life in jail.
Joshua Lucas, from Sanctuary xjmtzywPoint near Jervis Bay, is also charged with advocating for doing a terrorist act.
Crown prosecutor Chris O’Donnell told the jury during his opening address on Tuesday that both of the brothers expressed support for and idolised Brenton Tarrant, the gunman who shot dead 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in March 2019.
Mr O’Donnell told the court that the brothers had not chosen a target, or a means to carry out their attack, however had used social media to express support for far right-wing and white-supremacist ideologies.
He said the crown’s circumstantial case would rely on internet searches, social media posts and items seized by police during their arrest on the NSW south coast in March 2020.
The court was told that Joshua Lucas posted to Telegram and Facebook a video made by the Christchurch mosque gunman during the killing.
The court was told that in July 2019 the brothers had exploded two improvised explosive devices in a gravel pit, and Joshua Lucas had conducted internet searches for synagogues and mosques in Wollongong.
The court was told details of posts made by Joshua Lucas, under the username Josh Bro to Telegram channels, including one named “Swastika 1488 Swastika ASIO n***ers unwelcome”.
In one conversation when another person said: “I unironically think about murder and shooting up an office while walking the floor at work, aye”, Joshua Lucas allegedly replied: “Shoot up a mosque.”
The crown alleges that Benjamin Lucas, from Batemans Bay, agreed, writing: “Aye.”
On the day of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Joshua Lucas described the gunman as a “hero and a freedom fighter”, the crown has alleged.
“Meanwhile everyone in Australia is hitting the Muslim pity posts with this stuff,” he allegedly said online.
He allegedly continued: “Hell yeah race war now. If they do holy f**k they’re going to see a f***ing crusade.”
He also advocated the shooting of refugees and the killing of people of Chinese descent.
Benjamin Lucas, who worked at a south coast Woolworths before his arrest, took a picture of himself doing a Nazi salute, the court was told.
Mr O’Donnell told the court that Joshua Lucas described himself as a white nationalist and wrote online “F**k the Jews” and “I wish Hitler did kill six million”.
The trial continues.
