<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>336871</docID> <postdate>2025-01-23 14:58:05</postdate> <headline>Second arrest made over synagogue graffiti, fire attack</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-336872" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/r0_0_800_600_w1200_h678_fmax.webp" alt="" width="800" height="600" /></p> <caption>A second man has been arrested over an alleged attempt to set a synagogue alight. (HANDOUT/NSW POLICE)</caption> <p><strong>Police have arrested a second man allegedly involved in a fire and graffiti attack on a synagogue.</strong></p> <p>Two days after Adam Edward Moule was arrested in relation to January 11's attack on Newtown Synagogue, in Sydney's inner west, authorities apprehended a 37-year-old man they believe was also involved.</p> <p>The synagogue was spray-painted with red swastikas and briefly set alight in the early hours of January 11 before the fire went out.</p> <p>Moule was arrested on Tuesday and charged with offences including arson and property damage.</p> <p>He will remain in custody for at least the next two weeks after he did not apply for bail in court on Thursday.</p> <p>Prosecutors said they were seeking to have the case dealt with in the District Court, where higher potential penalties apply.</p> <p>Moule's 37-year-old alleged accomplice was arrested at a hotel in inner-city Pyrmont about 1pm on Thursday after officers used a Taser during the process of apprehending him.</p> <p>He was treated by paramedics before being taken to a local police station but is yet to be charged.</p> <p>Premier Chris Minns congratulated the police on their "dogged" work, warning other potential offenders that investigators were not finished.</p> <p>"The NSW Police Force has deployed dozens of officers determined to catch the bastards responsible for these sickening, racist crimes," he said in a statement.</p> <p>The latest arrest is the 10th by a strike force set up to investigate a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney, which have included the targeting of a childcare centre near a synagogue and the former home of a prominent Jewish community leader.</p> <p>NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb previously said investigators were closing in on a second person allegedly involved in the Newtown synagogue incident.</p> <p>Moule, 33, was also charged with allegedly growing cannabis plants and being in possession of stolen goods.</p> <p>During his arrest, police allegedly found five debit cards in different names, and from different financial institutions, which police believe to have been stolen.</p> <p>Ms Webb said police were still investigating the motivation behind the anti-Semitic attacks after her federal counterparts revealed they were probing the possibility that overseas actors had recruited "criminals for hire" to carry out the crimes.</p> <p>"We can't rule anything out anything and we need to keep an open mind, which we are doing," she said.</p> <p>The synagogue attackers ignited a clear liquid that burned out in minutes, but it could have had deadly consequences if it had taken hold, Ms Webb said at the time.</p> <p>Moule is due to return to court on February 6.</p> </body>