Stan Grant threat: Man arrested over online messages to ABC star
A man has been accused of threatening ABC TV host Stan Grant days after he stepped down as a Q+A host over racial harassment.
Grant reported receiving online threats Tuesday morning and was seen with his own wife Tracey Holmes attending Randwick police station inside Sydneyearly on Wednesday afternoon in the east.
The couple arrived at about 1:50 p.m. and were in about an hour before Grant left, followed by Holmes about 15 minutes later.
Police told Daily Mail Australia they had arrested a 41-year-old man on Wednesday night and charged him with using a coach service to make threats against Grant.
A man has been charged with harassing broadcaster Stan Grant after he reported online threats to police just days after resigning as a Q+A presenter over racist bullying
“At approximately 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday, officers from the Sydney City Police Area Command received a report of alleged online threats against a 59-year-old man,” a spokeswoman said.
“The police have launched an investigation into the incident. After investigating, police arrested a 41-year-old man in Fairfield Heights at 6:40 p.m. yesterday.
“The man was taken to Fairfield Police Station where he was charged with using carriages to inflict serious injury and carriages to threaten/intimidate/insult.”
The man was released on bail to appear in Fairfield local court on May 31.
Grant revealed last Friday that he was stepping down from hosting the ABC panel discussion show after just ten months in the role.
Grant and his wife Tracey Holmes were seen early Wednesday afternoon at Randwick police station in eastern Sydney
The 59-year-old said he was leaving after being subjected to “relentless racist filth,” and accused the ABC of “institutional failure” for saying no one in senior management offered him public support.
Grant presented his final episode of Q+A on Monday night when he told the audience, “I’m down now…but I’ll get back up.”
“I’ve had to learn that endurance isn’t always strength,” he said.
“Sometimes the power is knowing when to say stop. And to those who have sent messages of support, thank you very much. But I’ll be fine.’
Grant said he was stepping down after racial abuse that had mounted since he appeared on ABC coverage of King Charles’s coronation.
That broadcast was widely criticized for focusing on the negatives of England’s colonial past and questioning the role of the monarchy.
Police told Daily Mail Australia they had arrested and charged a 41-year-old man with using a carriage service to make threats against Grant
“To those who abused me and my family, I would say, if your goal was to hurt me, you succeeded,” Grant said Monday.
‘And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I must have given you so much reason to hate me so much, attack me and my family, make threats against me.
‘I’m down now. I am. But I will rise again. And you can come to me again, and I will meet you with the love of my people.
“My people can teach the world to love. As Martin Luther King Jr. said of his struggle, “We will exhaust you with our ability to love everyone.”
However, Grant also said he walked out not because of racism or hatred on social media, but out of a wider disenchantment with the media.
“I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem. And I have to wonder how and if we can do better.’
The 59-year-old said he parted ways after being subjected to ‘relentless racist filth’, accusing the ABC of ‘institutional failure’ for saying no one offered him support
Grant ended by thanking his family, spoke a few words in his native Wiradjuri, and then simply said “good night.”
Earlier Monday, hundreds of ABC employees across the country walked out of offices in solidarity with Grant.
Holmes joined the protest in Sydney with her husband’s ex-wife, SBS journalist Karla Grant, and his daughter, NITV journalist Lowanna Grant.
Dozens of ABC staff also gathered outside Parliament House in Canberra and the national broadcaster’s Southbank base in Melbourne.
Lowanna Grant became emotional as she told the crowd in Sydney about the toll her father’s abuse had taken on her entire family.
“It’s really hard to see him struggle, and that he’s had to deal with the racism and disgusting filth that’s been online,” she said.
“I’m so grateful to everyone here today who supports him, and not just my dad but all the other First Nation journalists.”
Karla Grant told the crowd in Sydney that racial abuse was an ongoing problem for Indigenous reporters and her family.
“It’s an accumulation of years of racism that our people have faced,” she said.
“Enough is enough and we must take a stand.”