Police have charged a man after a car was used to ram the gates of a synagogue in Brisbane.

Officers say the man was driving a Toyota Hilux utility when he knocked down the gates of the property in Margaret Street in Brisbane’s CBD shortly after 7pm on Friday.

The driver fled the scene before being taken into custody a short time later.

No one was injured during the incident.

A 32-year-old Sunnybank man was expected to appear before the Brisbane magistrates’ court on Saturday. He has been charged with wilful damage, serious vilification or hate crime, dangerous operation of a vehicle, and drug possession offences.

Queensland police Acting Superintendent, Michael Hogan, said the attack was targeted at the synagogue, but it was not being considered a terrorist act.

“Specialist counter terrorism of officers have been involved in the investigation from the very start, and I can confirm this is not considered a terrorist incident,” he said.

“Police are considering the man’s mental health and intoxication as being contributing factors.”

Hogan said the targeted attack on a Jewish place of worship was an aggravating factor in the charges being brought.

“There was definitely a targeted attack against the Jewish synagogue,” he said.
“The video surveillance (shows) it’s very clear that (the driver) intended to do some damage to the gates.”

No one was injured in the attack – the CCTV footage released by police shows a person inside the synagogue grounds jumping backwards as the ute rams the gates – and police say they believe the attacker did not intend to enter the synagogue.

The vice president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, Libby Burke, said the state’s Jewish community was “deeply distressed”.

She said “all Jews in Queensland should be able to attend synagogue and live our lives free from fear”.

“This attack is not only an attack on my community, it is an attack on all of us,” she said.

Burke said the community’s synagogue was a sacred place, “a place of prayer, reflection, and community”.

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The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has described the alleged attack as concerning and says Jewish Australians would be feeling deeply distressed by the incident.

“I have spoken to Jewish leaders, as well as police, and I want to assure Queenslanders we are taking this seriously,” he wrote on social media.

“This is another signal as to why we have put strong laws before parliament to protect all people where they worship.”

“We are going through the process and I fully intend to have them passed during the next sitting of parliament.”

An inquiry into the proposed legislation has been told multiple stakeholders were not consulted before the bill was drafted.

The Federation of Islamic Councils, the Islamic Council of Queensland and the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland all told the state’s parliamentary committee for justice, integrity and community safety that they had been bypassed.

Under the laws, Queensland’s attorney general would have the power to outlaw phrases, the public uttering of which would be punishable by two years in prison.

Police say their investigation into Friday evening’s apparent attack is ongoing.