https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/13/wieambilla-property-owner...Wieambilla shooting: property owner Gareth Train
posted regularly on online conspiracy website before police killed
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A person who knew Gareth and his wife said they believed he had been sucked into online conspiracy theories in recent years.
He appears to have been a prolific poster on an alternative website that posts conspiracy, anti-authoritarian and other articles. He said in one recent post he had been “ark homesteading for the past five years preparing to survive tomorrow”.
“When it becomes clear that we are in a time like no other and you head out into the wilderness to escape persecution, know that my wife and I will offer refuge to all brothers and sisters,” he posted.
“I will be scanning the UHF channels when that times comes.”
Gareth said the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 – Australia’s deadliest mass shooting – had been a “false flag” operation to “disarm the Australian population”.
He also posted about his mistrust for authorities, including comments critical of the Queensland Special Emergency Response Team (Sert), which ultimately arrived at the property and is understood to have shot him.
“If you are a conservative, anti-vaxx [sic], freedom lover, protester, common law, conspiracy talker, alternative news, independent critical thinker, truther, Christian, patriot etc etc expect a visit from these hammers,” he said.
Gareth also posted about working in the Queensland child protection and education systems and appeared pre-occupied with the notion the government was running “re-education camps”.