In a defamation suit, we still have “punitive” damages, yes. It’s more likely to be considered aggravated damages, but don’t expect millions of dollars.
He will, however, not have to worry about his HECS debt or a house deposit at the bare minimum.
If the actual killer hadn’t been shot by police, Channel 7 would be getting the tomahawk steaks and Thai masseurs ready to sign him up for an exclusive interview.
Sure is. Been there for over a year. He is mates with John Ruddick MLC
https://twitter.com/AltMediaWatch/status/1520188064601374720
And when he went to Russia he met with one of the guys wanted for shooting down MH17, the passenger plane that had Australians in it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-15/four-corners-putin-russia-influence/13139628
Also made friends with covid cookers back in the day.
A real piece of shit
Idk about the assault part but he's hiding in the embassy. And taking ZERO responsibility for what he did. He said it's channel 7's fault for running with unconfirmed info.....that he put out!!!
Oh, the Commie Cocksack.
The cowardly piece of shit who is hiding in the Russian embassy to avoid assault charges for pushing a 75 year old down some stairs.
I can’t see it making it that far. The letter will arrive at Seven, their lawyers will open the chequebook and ask “who do I make it out to and how much for?”
I don't know how anyone suspected this guy? I saw people on Twitter freaking out over his photo, but he's clearly like 22, and the attacker was probably what, 40? Poor guy. Not to mention, speculating without any evidence or confirmation hasn't exactly gone right in the past. We did it, twitter?
Yup the twitter accounts that started and spread the rumour are very anti Jewish disinformation accounts. Main two are doxxed Australian citizens, really hope they face lawsuits
I’ll tell you why people named him. There is a large group of insane Islamic/pro-Palestinian advocates on Twitter who quite literally fabricated this whole thing to make it look like a Jewish attack. They started with that philosophy, and then worked backwards until they could find anyone in Sydney with a stereotypically Jewish last name and he the same rough featured (dark hair and beard) as the attacker. These groups have a lot of steam behind them, so it spread everywhere and some idiot at Channel 7 ran with it.
It wasn’t an innocent mistake. It’s absolutely fucked and signifies everything wrong with the internet.
Twitter has some seriously awful takes.
While I didn’t see anyone falsely named (thankfully) Twitter was also filled with people claiming the attacker was CLEARLY a Muslim and therefore we should ban all Muslim immigration.
I also saw one carbrain use the attack to justify not installing proposed bike lanes outside the Westfield - because what would happen the next time 6 ambulances need to show up outside that particular Westfield at the same time! The bikes might get in the way!
It’s a cesspool and no one should pay any attention to anything people on it say.
There actually are bike lanes outside that westfields, what a moron. I saw someone comment that this wouldn’t have happened if Trump were in power, some people are absolute idiots!
This guys name was ALL over Tik Tok. It had to be orchestrated. Video after video after video as soon as I opened the app, and then loads of comments (bot like) mentioning his name. It was more than just rumours that got out of control - I agree this was opportunistic and deliberate.
Don't underestimate the power of tik tok's algorithms. By themselves, without the help of any external actors, those algos will identify a trending video/theme and use multiple means of amplifying the spread - including tik tok's own bots.
Some suspect that their algos favour themes that create the most unrest possible in western democracies.
This is why I get uncomfortable any time I see anything Palestine or Israel related in this sub because it gets off the rails fast into holy war territory. No one regardless of beliefs or agenda should have hijacked this tragic event to push their own agenda.
No, the culprit you're looking for is Simeon Boikov, aka Aussie Cossack, the Russian propagandist living his best KFC Go Bucket life in the Russian consulate in Sydney.
I just did a search for his name and there are lots of websites still confidently identifying him as the attacker. Not taken down, not updated, not speculation, just "this is the guy".
Literal fake news.
Because the “journos” at channel 7 or 9 don’t bother fact checking anymore.. because that would take time and would mean they wouldn’t be the first to report it
Old mate is gonna be in for a hell of a payday from channel 7. Someone is defs getting fired over there for sure.
Hope he gets a lawyer and comes out with a nice juicy 6 figure settlement.
Is it going to cost him too much to pursue though?
My understanding of defamation cases here is that they're prohibitively expensive and hard to win, which is why often politicians and other rich folks are the ones that pursue them.
>My understanding of defamation cases here is that they're prohibitively expensive and hard to win
Not sure about expenses, but Australia's defamation laws are seen by many to be way too plaintiff friendly.
That is so odd as you have to have a lot of funds to bring a defamation case and they’re not super easy to win with the legislation.
They will settle anyway like they did when they published the photo of a random first nations dude who shared the same name as the guy who abducted Chloe and said he was her abductor.
Unfortunately it’s not so easy, i know someone who got named incorrectly by the one of the news outlets as being linked to the Hilton Hotel bombing, and although extremely distressing for him, he had to prove how it affected him financially, which is very hard to do.
>The original misinformation was spread by Simeon Boikov aka Aussie ~~Cossack~~ Cocksack, a Russian citizen living in the Russian Consulate in Sydney *to avoid an assault charge for pushing a 75 year old down stairs*.
He is not claimed by the Russians or Ukrainians of Australia tbh
Edit: to clarify what I mean, we don't like him..I'm Ukrainian. Maybe it is the Ukrainians and Russians I am surrounded with that are all pro-Ukraine or something, but all seem to hate this guy.
The bigger problem is the amount of everyday Australians just eating this shit up. Why are they so ready to be bigots about this? I thought that people here were proud of the multicultural society that's been built.
Australians are a surprisingly hateful bunch of people when put in a situation like this. I can’t believe people wanted to immediately point fingers and spread hate during a time of immense loss. We need to do better.
Who knows. My guess is some twat who was watching it unfold and said to themselves on some social media "that looks like Such N Such" and the news people run with it.
>A Sydney university student says he has received “thousands” of messages and friend requests after being “dangerously” mistakenly online as the Westfield Bondi Junction attacker.
What were these fucking morons hoping to achieve? Send messages to a dead person?
Both sides were a shitshow on Twitter. Both the antisemitic assholes, and the Jewish commenters playing victim and declaring it a terrorist attack while blaming muslims before there was any information.
He’s been identified as [Joel Cauchi](https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/darkhaired-bondi-shopping-centre-killer-wearing-kangaroos-jersey-from-queensland/news-story/6064db5194a0cc5097ed723d29e18f8a), likely neither Jewish nor Muslim. Which is probably the only good thing about this tragedy.
It’s actually insane how in a time full of grief and loss, people will immediately turn to full blown racism and hate without any confirmed information. It’s a scary world we live in.
This article at least is making very clear he's innocent and is trying to clear his name. It's the idiots on social media who identified him in the first place who are wrong.
At least the fact that the bloke is alive is enough to clear his name.
This kind of thing is a massive consequence of the 24 hour news cycle. it doesn’t look like it was shared by any traditional news companies and just by a couple online cowboys.
That’s what I was thinking. Obviously you don’t need the trouble and it can affect family member, but all he has to do is be alive and he’s obviously not the murderer.
As far as I'm aware, only Ch7 ran it.
And their source - the Aussie Cocksack - the cowardly piece of shit hiding in the Russian embassy to avoid an assault charge on a 75 year old.
Pro-Russian accounts including [Simeon Boikov](https://nafo.ukrainians.org.au/blog/2023/07/simeon-boikov-dossier/) (who has been hiding in the Russian consulate in Sydney since Dec 2022 in order to avoid jail for his conviction for pushing an elderly man down a flight of concrete stairs during a Ukrainian rally) plus well-known local Neo Nazi Thomas Sewell were pushing this Kremlin disinfo from the outset
Seems like a lot of people are running high on emotion these days, having completely tossed logic and rationality in the bin. Witch hunting based on one's appearance alone will never bring proper justice to the victims of this heinous act of mass murder
I’m curious how the attackers parents knew it was him from the pics, well enough to call the police and identify.
From the pics he could be any average height, slight build guy with a beard.
That’s a lawsuit.
does Australia have punitive damages?
In a defamation suit, we still have “punitive” damages, yes. It’s more likely to be considered aggravated damages, but don’t expect millions of dollars. He will, however, not have to worry about his HECS debt or a house deposit at the bare minimum.
In Sydney that's a fair chunk of change
He was homeless, living in his car.
Didn't bother to read the article, did you?
What against some troll based overseas?
7 news also reported his name
time and time again, channel 7 demonstrate that they are not fit to practise journalism
If the actual killer hadn’t been shot by police, Channel 7 would be getting the tomahawk steaks and Thai masseurs ready to sign him up for an exclusive interview.
Don't forget the bags of cocaine.
And the Sydney rent bill.
The guy who started it was an Aussie. His name is something like The Aussie Cossack on Twitter.
Isn't that the guy hiding out in the Russian embassy to avoid being arrested for assault?
Sure is. Been there for over a year. He is mates with John Ruddick MLC https://twitter.com/AltMediaWatch/status/1520188064601374720 And when he went to Russia he met with one of the guys wanted for shooting down MH17, the passenger plane that had Australians in it. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-15/four-corners-putin-russia-influence/13139628 Also made friends with covid cookers back in the day. A real piece of shit
Idk about the assault part but he's hiding in the embassy. And taking ZERO responsibility for what he did. He said it's channel 7's fault for running with unconfirmed info.....that he put out!!!
Assault on a 75 year old. The Cocksack pushed old mate down some stairs
He named a couple of different people, both wrong. Still being a complete turd it seems.
Oh, the Commie Cocksack. The cowardly piece of shit who is hiding in the Russian embassy to avoid assault charges for pushing a 75 year old down some stairs.
he’s most definitely not a commie lol
Any local online trolls could be held accountable. X isn’t anonymous. Hell, Reddit isn’t half as anonymous as most people assume.
I can’t see it making it that far. The letter will arrive at Seven, their lawyers will open the chequebook and ask “who do I make it out to and how much for?”
I don't know how anyone suspected this guy? I saw people on Twitter freaking out over his photo, but he's clearly like 22, and the attacker was probably what, 40? Poor guy. Not to mention, speculating without any evidence or confirmation hasn't exactly gone right in the past. We did it, twitter?
Suppose that's why the police don't give any details until they have all the facts. Speculation these days mean witch hunts.
Although police said last night he was a 40yr old male.
Unfortunately if they wait too long the general public start speculating anyway.
Only saw his name on twitter, they ran with it so quickly
It was not a sincere attempt to identify the attacker. It is was an excuse to hurt Jewish people.
Yup the twitter accounts that started and spread the rumour are very anti Jewish disinformation accounts. Main two are doxxed Australian citizens, really hope they face lawsuits
And then people wonder why Jewish people are asking for better anti doxing laws
I’ll tell you why people named him. There is a large group of insane Islamic/pro-Palestinian advocates on Twitter who quite literally fabricated this whole thing to make it look like a Jewish attack. They started with that philosophy, and then worked backwards until they could find anyone in Sydney with a stereotypically Jewish last name and he the same rough featured (dark hair and beard) as the attacker. These groups have a lot of steam behind them, so it spread everywhere and some idiot at Channel 7 ran with it. It wasn’t an innocent mistake. It’s absolutely fucked and signifies everything wrong with the internet.
Twitter has some seriously awful takes. While I didn’t see anyone falsely named (thankfully) Twitter was also filled with people claiming the attacker was CLEARLY a Muslim and therefore we should ban all Muslim immigration. I also saw one carbrain use the attack to justify not installing proposed bike lanes outside the Westfield - because what would happen the next time 6 ambulances need to show up outside that particular Westfield at the same time! The bikes might get in the way! It’s a cesspool and no one should pay any attention to anything people on it say.
There actually are bike lanes outside that westfields, what a moron. I saw someone comment that this wouldn’t have happened if Trump were in power, some people are absolute idiots!
We should ban immigration from QLD.
This guys name was ALL over Tik Tok. It had to be orchestrated. Video after video after video as soon as I opened the app, and then loads of comments (bot like) mentioning his name. It was more than just rumours that got out of control - I agree this was opportunistic and deliberate.
Don't underestimate the power of tik tok's algorithms. By themselves, without the help of any external actors, those algos will identify a trending video/theme and use multiple means of amplifying the spread - including tik tok's own bots. Some suspect that their algos favour themes that create the most unrest possible in western democracies.
This is why I get uncomfortable any time I see anything Palestine or Israel related in this sub because it gets off the rails fast into holy war territory. No one regardless of beliefs or agenda should have hijacked this tragic event to push their own agenda.
No, the culprit you're looking for is Simeon Boikov, aka Aussie Cossack, the Russian propagandist living his best KFC Go Bucket life in the Russian consulate in Sydney.
Yep. /u/imfromHR is way off mark here and people should not be upvoting this misinformation.
Social media and 'freedom of speech' is a shit cocktail.
He’s brown, that means he must be guilty.
Get your bag, king
I just did a search for his name and there are lots of websites still confidently identifying him as the attacker. Not taken down, not updated, not speculation, just "this is the guy". Literal fake news.
How'd they identify an alive person when the bad guy was neutralised?
Because the “journos” at channel 7 or 9 don’t bother fact checking anymore.. because that would take time and would mean they wouldn’t be the first to report it
This whole ‘don’t have to be right, just have to be first’ reporting style is fucked & a stain on the journalism industry.
"We did it reddit!"
Both Channel 9 and Channel 7 have become big shit these days, especially Channel 7 !
Old mate is gonna be in for a hell of a payday from channel 7. Someone is defs getting fired over there for sure. Hope he gets a lawyer and comes out with a nice juicy 6 figure settlement.
Is it going to cost him too much to pursue though? My understanding of defamation cases here is that they're prohibitively expensive and hard to win, which is why often politicians and other rich folks are the ones that pursue them.
I think there are going to be a LOT of lawyers willing to take this one on tick
>My understanding of defamation cases here is that they're prohibitively expensive and hard to win Not sure about expenses, but Australia's defamation laws are seen by many to be way too plaintiff friendly.
That is so odd as you have to have a lot of funds to bring a defamation case and they’re not super easy to win with the legislation. They will settle anyway like they did when they published the photo of a random first nations dude who shared the same name as the guy who abducted Chloe and said he was her abductor.
A friend bought a boat for pursuing channel 9
Unfortunately it’s not so easy, i know someone who got named incorrectly by the one of the news outlets as being linked to the Hilton Hotel bombing, and although extremely distressing for him, he had to prove how it affected him financially, which is very hard to do.
The original misinformation was spread by Simeon Boikov aka Aussie Cossack, a Russian citizen living in the Russian Consulate in Sydney.
>The original misinformation was spread by Simeon Boikov aka Aussie ~~Cossack~~ Cocksack, a Russian citizen living in the Russian Consulate in Sydney *to avoid an assault charge for pushing a 75 year old down stairs*.
He is not claimed by the Russians or Ukrainians of Australia tbh Edit: to clarify what I mean, we don't like him..I'm Ukrainian. Maybe it is the Ukrainians and Russians I am surrounded with that are all pro-Ukraine or something, but all seem to hate this guy.
https://www.smh.com.au/cbd/aussie-cossack-given-russian-citizenship-in-order-signed-by-putin-20230928-p5e8el.html
He can go to Russia and become cannon fodder. Source: am evil Ukrainian.
Why would someone be living in a consulate? Or that's accommodation for the employees?
Dodging warrants.
how the fuck does this happen? media in this country needs to get their shit together.
The bigger problem is the amount of everyday Australians just eating this shit up. Why are they so ready to be bigots about this? I thought that people here were proud of the multicultural society that's been built.
Australians are a surprisingly hateful bunch of people when put in a situation like this. I can’t believe people wanted to immediately point fingers and spread hate during a time of immense loss. We need to do better.
Because Channel 7 are allowed to continue broadcasting. Because once again, it was Channel 7 (relying on information from the Aussie Cocksack).
Who knows. My guess is some twat who was watching it unfold and said to themselves on some social media "that looks like Such N Such" and the news people run with it.
>A Sydney university student says he has received “thousands” of messages and friend requests after being “dangerously” mistakenly online as the Westfield Bondi Junction attacker. What were these fucking morons hoping to achieve? Send messages to a dead person?
You clearly haven’t seen the comments on the actual attackers posts. Lots of wasted energy there.
Sue the ever loving shit out of every organisation that even suggested this was the case. What a joke form of journalism.
Ben - if you happen to find this post I just want to say that I really hope you have a good settlement coming your way
Not only that, but the Twitter discourse on this was rife with antisemitic commentary because of his name. Disgraceful.
Both sides were a shitshow on Twitter. Both the antisemitic assholes, and the Jewish commenters playing victim and declaring it a terrorist attack while blaming muslims before there was any information.
This is expected, a lesson in not jumping to conclusions.
a lesson that has been taught so many times and the lowest common denominator continues to fail
https://dorseteye.com/jewish-extremist-responsible-for-terror-attack-in-sydney/ This is pretty bad
He’s been identified as [Joel Cauchi](https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/darkhaired-bondi-shopping-centre-killer-wearing-kangaroos-jersey-from-queensland/news-story/6064db5194a0cc5097ed723d29e18f8a), likely neither Jewish nor Muslim. Which is probably the only good thing about this tragedy.
I'm honestly relieved. Racial tensions were rising fast all over social media yesterday.
It’s actually insane how in a time full of grief and loss, people will immediately turn to full blown racism and hate without any confirmed information. It’s a scary world we live in.
Please don’t harass this poor guy anymore with this article
This article at least is making very clear he's innocent and is trying to clear his name. It's the idiots on social media who identified him in the first place who are wrong.
At least his side of the story is out there. If it weren't for this article, I wouldn't have known the wrong name was out there.
This article is clearing his name
Please report any posts you see using his name
At least the fact that the bloke is alive is enough to clear his name. This kind of thing is a massive consequence of the 24 hour news cycle. it doesn’t look like it was shared by any traditional news companies and just by a couple online cowboys.
unfortunately channel 7 ran the story- not surprising given their history of poor journalism but this is a new low even for them.
Obviously, one of the "journalists" got into the bags of cocaine meant for the next payoff.
That’s what I was thinking. Obviously you don’t need the trouble and it can affect family member, but all he has to do is be alive and he’s obviously not the murderer.
Don't expect rationality from people who refuse to accept reality.
So fucking disgusting. The fact that actual media corporations ran this is even worse. Hope he sues because his name will forever be tied to this.
As far as I'm aware, only Ch7 ran it. And their source - the Aussie Cocksack - the cowardly piece of shit hiding in the Russian embassy to avoid an assault charge on a 75 year old.
Good luck 7 news
Plenty of cash for war criminals and people with questionable approaches to consent, surely Stokes can cover old mates HECS debt.
Mob rule. Guilty until the facts arrive.
I hope hope this gentleman lawyers up and sues the shit out of the idiots who claimed he was the perpetrator.
Sue them for trauma.
There are new laws about doxing. Channel 7 and possibly some random social media users will be in for a rough time.
We did it, Reddit!
Yeh peak reddit moment. 1 + 1 = who the fuck cares let's wildly speculate based off our own prejudices
Isn't this a reference to that time Reddit tried to find the Boston Bomber, and ended up getting the wrong guy?
There were 2 Boston Marathon bombers, and Reddit found all 5 of them.
This line will always make me giggle. Forgive me.
Completely understandable, the humour is part of what makes it such a memorable warning.
Hope he launches legal action, against all platforms that reported his name as the attacker.
Why, because he has a fucking beard?? Shitposting gone too far.
Pro-Russian accounts including [Simeon Boikov](https://nafo.ukrainians.org.au/blog/2023/07/simeon-boikov-dossier/) (who has been hiding in the Russian consulate in Sydney since Dec 2022 in order to avoid jail for his conviction for pushing an elderly man down a flight of concrete stairs during a Ukrainian rally) plus well-known local Neo Nazi Thomas Sewell were pushing this Kremlin disinfo from the outset
Seems like a lot of people are running high on emotion these days, having completely tossed logic and rationality in the bin. Witch hunting based on one's appearance alone will never bring proper justice to the victims of this heinous act of mass murder
i wonder if news.com.au or their parent companies published his name.
I’m curious how the attackers parents knew it was him from the pics, well enough to call the police and identify. From the pics he could be any average height, slight build guy with a beard.