A petition has been launched calling for a Frenchman who confronted the Bondi Junction attacker with a bollard to be granted Australian citizenship for his “brave and courageous” act.
when Joel Cauchi went on a stabbing rampage in the shopping centre.
Several others were injured before Cauchi was shot dead by police inspector Amy Scott.
Damien Guerot was among those who leapt to the aid of others, with footage of him confronting Cauchi on an escalator with a bollard going viral on social media and earning him the title “Bollard Man”.
A Change.org petition was launched on Sunday night urging the federal government to grant Australian citizenship to Guerot, whose visa expires in a month.
“Damien Guerot committed an act of true heroism by selflessly putting his own life in the firing line of danger without a second thought by taking on a mass murderer, , with a bollard, to keep him at bay while members of the public fled to safety,” Belinda Robinson, who started the petition, wrote.
“His brave and courageous act gave police time to arrive to contain the situation, it is unknown how many lives he has saved by his act of selfless heroism.
“Thank you Damien. A true act of Australianism.”
Almost 600 people had signed the petition at the time of writing.
“This man, with no gun, no uniform confronted a knife-wielding killer. This man had guts and deserves a bravery medal as well as citizenship, ” one person commented.
“He is a hero”, commented several others.
To be granted Australian citizenship, a person typically has to be a permanent resident or have a parent who was an Australian citizen when they were born.
A government spokesperson told SBS News that the government was aware of Guerot’s case and was “looking into the matter”.
Why was ‘Bollard Man’ Damien Guerot?
Construction worker Guerot said he was on his way to the gym with fellow Frenchman Silas Despreaux when they heard someone in the shopping centre scream, “There’s a man stabbing people”.
The pair ran to see what was happening and saw Cauchi approaching them.
“We just saw him coming … we were thinking, ‘We need to try to stop him’,” Guerot told the Seven Network.
They each grabbed a bollard, and then followed Cauchi from the floor above.
Gauerot said when he came face-to-face with Cauchi on the escalator, he was met with “empty eyes”.
“He wasn’t there,” he said.
“We tried to throw the bollard. We really wanted to stop him.”
While some have branded him a “hero” Guerot said that title was better suited to Scott.
“She did the job. We just did what we did,” he said.
SBS News has contacted the immigration minister for comment.
