Nexus - 1304 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

Unless the police had a reason not to want the massacre connected to Bryant (and I know of no evidence that would invite such a possibility), the outcome is consistent with only one conclusion: Tasmania Police did not want evidence to survive that would have proven that Bryant had not been the person using the car that afternoon. The Port Arthur shooter therefore has to have been someone other than Bryant whose identity the police were anxious to protect. killed twenty of the occupants with single shots to the head and wounded twelve more, firing a total of only 29 rounds. Using known techniques reported by witnesses, he ensured his own safety from attack by turning on the spot and staying outside grappling range. It was an awesome display of expertise, even by special forces standards." However, we don't have to take the word of people like Vialls and Serong who never saw the Port Arthur gunman shoot with their own eyes. According to eyewitness (and victim) Neville Quin: "He [the gunman] appeared to be the best-trained army guy I've ever seen; his stance was unbelievable." Also important to consider is that, according to most witnesses, the Broad Arrow Café shooter shot from his right hip. Not only is Bryant left-handed, he told police he had never fired a gun from his hip. We should believe him. It is doubtful that anyone except a highly trained professional shooter could. Bryant's "gunmanship" Quin: "He [the gunman] appeared to be the best-trained army guy For many people, the most important reason to doubt that Bryant I've ever seen; his stance was unbelievable." was the killer is on account of the latter's impressive gunmanship. Also important to consider is that, according to most witnesses, In 1998, Wound Ballistics Review pointed out that the Port Arthur the Broad Arrow Café shooter shot from his right hip. Not only is incident: "...is unique in relation to the wounds for several reasons. Bryant left-handed, he told police he had never fired a gun from his Twice as many people were killed as injured (the reverse normally hip. We should believe him. It is doubtful that anyone except a being true)." highly trained professional shooter could. What's more, the Broad Arrow Café gunman managed to shoot the first 19 out of 20 people dead with single accurate shots to the | Weapons and ammunition used at Port Arthur head, fired from his right hip. Some researchers maintain that The prosecution claims that Bryant perpetrated the massacre Bryant, who was an amateur shooter with virtually no shooting using two fireams, a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic .223 mm rifle and experience whatsoever, would have entirely lacked the skills to a Belgian FN-FAL semi-automatic .308 mm SLR (self-loading carry out such a feat. A powerful case has rifle), both of which were recovered from been made to this effect by Perth researcher Seascape Cottage after detectives went over Joe Vialls (now deceased), based on the fact the burned-out site on the afternoon of 29 that amateur shooters generally achieve a " April 1996. However, it is not clear whether much lower KIR (killed-to-injured ratio) than There was an almost these were really the weapons used at Port did the Broad Arrow Café shooter. In an satanic accuracy to Arthur. Both were recovered in a badly enclosed space like the Broad Arrow Café, th A damaged condition which effectively ruled out ; at shooting wks testi targets would have to be shot in a careful ballistics testing. sequence with split-second timing to performance. However, the matter is complicated by the maximise the kill rate. Yet the Broad Arrow aut fact that the earliest newspaper reports do not Café gunman managed a kill rate well above Whoever did it is mention a Colt ARIS. ° No vovewitness that required of a fully trained soldier—an better than | am, mentions it either. Graham Collyer said that impossible task for a man like Bryant, with an the weapon used by the gunman inside the 1Q in the mid-60s and his total lack of military and there are not Broad Arrow Café "looked like a standard SLR service semi-automatic". This description is more consistent with the FN-FAL than the Colt AR-15, although it is this latter weapon that we are now told was the weapon used inside the café. The day after the massacre, the Examiner reported that police had found a .223 mm Armalite M16 at Port Arthur. Nothing has been heard since about the weapon that was found that day inside the PAHS. Then, on 1 May 1996, the West Australian told the public that the two weapons used had been a 5.56 mm did it is better than I am, and there are not Armalite AR-15 and a Chinese-made too many people around here better than SKS .762 mm assault rifle. It is Tam." interesting that it took only two days for the Armalite M16—a One reason why most members of the general public have prohibited import—to disappear from the public record, to be accepted the official story that Bryant was the gunman is that they replaced by a weapon which could be legally bought and sold in possess a greatly exaggerated idea of what amateur gunmen are Australia. From this point onwards, the SKS became the weapon able to do. Not only do amateurs tend to injure many more persons most frequently referred to in the media as the weapon "Bryant" than they kill, they are usually overpowered before they have had used. Then, finally, the SKS was dropped altogether and its completed their sinister work. By contrast, the Port Arthur place in narratives of the massacre was taken by the Belgian FN- gunman was a thorough professional who was at all times in FAL. To me, these intriguing shifts look like shifts from the real perfect control. Vialls wrote: murder weapons to weapons that could be connected to Bryant, if "The shooter in the Broad Arrow Café at Port Arthur only because, like him, they also emerged from the Seascape demonstrated all of the qualities of a trained counterterrorist inferno. marksman but made no amateur mistakes. Always in motion and . ears : . : : Continued on page point-shooting from the right hip with devastating accuracy, he training. Vialls concluded that the shooter was a military-trained marksman who would probably rank among the top 10 or 20 shooters in the world. Brigadier Ted Serong, former head of Australian forces in Vietnam, was just as impressed. In 1999, Serong—who explained that his eyes had first been opened by the "astonishing proportion of killed to wounded"—told Melbourne newspaper the Age: "There was an almost satanic accuracy to that shooting performance. Whoever too many people around here better than | am." — Brigadier Ted Serong, former head of Australian forces in Vietnam. that shooting Rees are en performance. Whoever did it is better than | am, and there are not too many people around here better than | am." 16 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2006 "There was an almost satanic accuracy to Continued on page 76 www.nexusmagazine.com