A 22-year-old man who posed as one of the gunmen behind Australia's deadliest antisemitic attack has pleaded guilty to five criminal counts, facing potential jail time when sentenced next month.
Zayne Jason William McMillan stood on a footbridge at Bondi Beach on January 31 and mimed holding a long-barreled firearm, mirroring the actions of two gunmen who opened fire on a crowd celebrating Hanukkah two months earlier, killing 15 people and injuring dozens. As he performed the gesture, McMillan shouted antisemitic abuse before intimidating a man walking with his young daughters. The children were left in tears.
Court documents revealed that minutes later, McMillan cycled up behind a Jewish man wearing religious headwear and his young son who were walking to a synagogue in Bondi, continuing his antisemitic tirade.
McMillan has pleaded guilty to three counts of offensive behaviour in a public place and two counts of intimidation. His lawyer, Glen Cremer, argued before Waverley Local Court that his client's conduct amounted to "drunken stupidity" rather than planned hate activity. Cremer said McMillan had been drunk and influenced by others at the time of the spontaneous offending, and should be released from custody to address his alcohol and drug issues before sentencing in April.
The defence conceded the agreed facts were "fairly extreme" and clearly offensive, insensitive, and immature. However, Cremer suggested there was a possibility his client might avoid jail time.
The police prosecutor took a different view. According to reporting by 9News, the prosecutor contended that a jail term was inevitable given McMillan's criminal history and the "pretty horrendous" facts of the case. The prosecution noted that McMillan had been on parole for multiple domestic violence offences at the time of the bridge incident.
The magistrate agreed that imprisonment appeared likely and declined to hear the bail application. McMillan will deliver an apology to the community at his sentencing hearing next month, the court was told.