Tracking the online history of man arrested over Haines attack
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/what-we-know-brendan-nugent-arrested-alleged-attack-helen-haines/107286654Open linkView original on aussie.zoneSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on aussie.zonehttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/what-we-know-brendan-nugent-arrested-alleged-attack-helen-haines/107286654Open linkView original on aussie.zone
18 replies
The West Australian has gone all-in on the "Anti Israel" angle. I guess they only went back the last couple of years. They certainly didn't mention his playing in the High School footy team. According to The West, he's super mega hateful toward Israel and this is all about Gaza. Front page, and a Page 3-4 spread.
Yesterday, all the newsheads were reporting that the family were friends with Helen Haines.
Also from the bits and pieces released so far, it appears he was just driving by. He saw Helen in the street and let the dark thoughts through. There doesn't appear to be a master plan behind his actions - no 'what next?' or 'what will this achieve?' or anything. I'm not sure we're going to get a coherent reason why he did this or what he was trying to achieve.
There are at least three headlines for this article on the ABC News front page. I chose one that wasn't offered by Lemmy when I posted this.
Biggest story of the century apparently, there seems to be a lot of agendas flying around.
I think it could have Port Arthur Massacre type social and political ramifications for corporate media, including corporate social media.
It is unwise to speculate but reports suggest that it might be a mental health issue.
We could do more in community mental health resources and identifying people who might be a threat but it seems like police were aware he had problems and probably couldn't do much.
It is a big stretch to blame this incident on social media this early. Social media is a problem in our society but it's not the only one.
My comment was poorly worded. Corporate media was initially meant to be a stand-in for a few social and political issues being discussed as a result of this attack. Mental health and healthcare, policing (why are police handling mental health checks), misogyny and sexism, violence against women and children, corporate media including social media, political discourse and violence etc.
Do you really think so? From the article 'clues' it appears like this man was really suffering both physically and mentally. He hasn't killed multiple people and he has a history of being intelligent, caring about important issues and having a strong sense of social and environmental justice. I hope both he and Helen come out of this nightmare in a healthy state.
we can hope, but even so he will still need to answer for what he did while in an unbalanced mental state - both legally and to himself
Agreed.
He ran over her on purpose. Twice.
I don't CARE about his "strong sense of justice" in this context. If he had that, he wouldn't have tried to flatten an innocent woman who's done him no harm.
I care that he ends up somewhere where he can be kept from hurting anyone else.
If it turns out that he was in a psychosis or whatever, it doesn't excuse what he did but it might explain it. Why that is important is because you need to put in mechanisms to stop/minimize it in the future.
That's an issue the woman he ran over campaigned on, and was actively in meetings with the government a few days before the incident to try to correct. Health care access in the region was Helen Haines' big Thing
I absolutely get what you're saying with explanation vs excuse. I agree with you as far as that goes. He sounds like he was very ill.
My point is that he's still very nearly killed someone, and the person he chose was actively working to help him. There have to be consequences for that, even though he's so ill.
Stick him in Thomas Embling, get him the care he needs and keep him from doing any more harm
Yeah I agree in principle. Unless they find he was trying to manage his mental health and was rejected etc etc (mental health is shitly managed) . But otherwise I agree, do the crime pay the time .
I am aware of what he has done to Ms Haines. He can be a person who felt strongly about others who declined into severe mental illness or had some other condition. There will be justice and all factors will be considered. If the event happened as a result of an episode or similar we need to care because this sort of situation is not new and there are mentally ill people out there who are not getting treatment. We've had people suffering episodes driving into innocent bystanders and killing them before (Melbourne examples).
Mate, the woman he ran over was actively trying to get better health care access for her seat. She was in meetings with the government about it about two days before he flattened her
Anyone who does what Nugent did to Helen Haines could not have been in a sane state of mind. He had no violence-related police record.
I am not saying there should be no personal consequences for his action.
This terrible incident also shows that there are consequences in not having adequate mental health services and we have seen this over and over again. I am sure Haines would agree. I hope she will come out of this horrific situation spiritually, emotionally and mentally even stronger than before. She has serious physical challenges ahead.
It unlikely. All depends on why he did it and how Australians react to that news. Sorry for the non answer answer.
The hasbarists and other hate-mongers are doing what they like to do, however, and using this for their dark purposes. Have a look at what Michael West reports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeqen5jDA6o