Sydney pub arrest video falsely claimed to be terror-related

Matthew Elmas December 24, 2025
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A man has been charged with multiple offences, but none of them are terror-related. Image by AAP/Instagram

WHAT WAS CLAIMED

A video shows police arresting a man over another planned terrorist attack in Sydney. 

OUR VERDICT

False. The video shows police arresting a man who refused to leave a pub.

AAP FACTCHECK - A person filmed being arrested in Sydney for refusing to leave a pub is being misrepresented as a foiled terror attack on social media.

NSW Police confirmed the video shows a man being arrested over a disturbance at a venue in the Eastern Suburbs, not terrorism.

The claim appears in an Instagram post with tens of thousands of views featuring a video of multiple police officers rushing into a venue before bundling a man into the back of a police van.

"Another Plotted Attack In Sydney!!" overlaid text on the video reads, appearing to reference the mass shooting at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025.

A screenshot of an Instagram post.
The video was posted less than a week after the Bondi Beach mass shooting. (AAP/Instagram)

Half a dozen police officers and four police vehicles are seen throughout the short video.

However, NSW Police told AAP FactCheck that officers actually arrested the man who refused to leave a Double Bay hotel after "causing a disturbance" on December 19, 2025.

They confirmed the 44-year-old was physically restrained but resisted, grabbing at officers, before he was arrested and taken to Surry Hills Police Station.

The man has been granted bail but is set to face charges in court in January 2026.

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Sources

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AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network