Stan Grant threat: Man arrested over online messages to ABC star

A man has been charged with harassing broadcaster Stan Grant after he reported receiving online threats days after he stood down as Q+A host due to racist bullying. 

Grant and his wife Tracey Holmes were seen attending Randwick police station in Sydney’s east early on Wednesday afternoon. 

The couple arrived about 1.50pm and were inside for 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 and charged him with using a carriage service to make threats against Grant. 

A man has been charged with harassing broadcaster Stan Grant after he reported online threats to police days after standing down as Q+A host due to racist bullying

‘About 11.50am on Tuesday officers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command received a report of alleged online threats made against a 59-year-old man,’ a spokeswoman said.

‘Police commenced an investigation into the incident. Following enquires, police arrested a 41-year-old man in Fairfield Heights at 6.40pm yesterday.

‘The man was taken to Fairfield Police Station where he was charged with use carriage to threaten serious harm and carriage service to menace/harass/offend.’

The man was granted bail to appear before Fairfield Local Court on May 31.

Grant revealed last Friday he was stepping away from hosting the ABC panel discussion program after just ten months in the role.

Grant and his wife Tracey Holmes were seen attending Randwick police station in Sydney's east early on Wednesday afternoon

Grant and his wife Tracey Holmes were seen attending Randwick police station in Sydney’s east early on Wednesday afternoon

The 59-year-old said he was taking leave after being subjected to ‘relentless racial filth’, and accused the ABC of ‘institutional failure’ because he said no-one offered him support.

He hosted his last episode on Monday night, when he told the audience, ‘I am down right now… but I will get back up’ . 

‘I’ve had to learn that endurance is not always strength,’ Grant said.

‘Sometimes, strength is knowing when to say stop. And to those who have sent messages of support – thank you so much. But I’ll be OK.’

He said he was stepping down after racial abuse which had ramped up since he appeared on coverage of King Charles’ coronation.

That broadcast was widely criticised for concentrating on the negatives of England’s colonial past and questioning the role of the monarchy.

Police told Daily Mail Australia they had arrested a 41-year-old man and charged him with using a carriage service to make threats against Grant

Police told Daily Mail Australia they had arrested a 41-year-old man and charged him with using a carriage service to make threats against Grant

‘To those who have abused me and my family, I would just say – if your aim was to hurt me, well, you’ve succeeded,’ he said on Monday.

‘And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me so much, to target me and my family, to make threats against me.

‘I am down right now. I am. But I will get back up. And you can come at 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 wear you down with our capacity to love all’.’

However Grant said he was not walking away because of racism or social media hatred, but a broader disenchantment with the media.

‘I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem. And I need to ask myself how, or if, we can do it better.’

The 59-year-old said he was taking leave after being subjected to 'relentless racial filth', and accused the ABC of 'institutional failure' because he said no-one offered him support

The 59-year-old said he was taking leave after being subjected to ‘relentless racial filth’, and accused the ABC of ‘institutional failure’ because he said no-one offered him support

He ended by thanking his family, speaking a few words in his native Wiradjuri language and then said a simple ‘Goodnight.’

Earlier on Monday, hundreds of ABC staff across the country walked out of offices in solidarity with Grant, with Holmes, ex-wife and SBS journalist Karla Grant and his daughter, NITV journalist Lowanna, front-and-centre at the protests.

Dozens gathered outside the national broadcaster’s headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney, as well as Parliament House in Canberra and the broadcaster’s Southbank base in Melbourne.

Lowanna Grant became emotional as she told the crowd in Sydney about the toll the abuse had taken on her family.

‘It’s really hard to see him struggling, and that he’s had to cop the racism and disgusting filth that’s been online,’ she said.

‘I’m so grateful to everyone here today who is supporting him, and not just my dad but all other First Nation’s journalists.’

Grant’s first wife, Karla Grant, told the Sydney crowd that racial abuse was an ongoing issue for Indigenous reporters, and her family.

‘It’s an accumulation of years of racism our people have had to face,’ she said.

‘Enough is enough and we have to take a stand.’

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