The Frenchman who confronted the Bondi Junction attacker will be allowed to stay in Australia, with Anthony Albanese promising to grant him citizenship following his heroic act.
Damien Guerot earned the nickname ‘Bollard Man’ after a viral video showed him bravely confronting stabber Joel Cauchi on an escalator, one of many instances in which he rushed to help others in need.
Damien Guerot (pictured) earned the nickname ‘Bollard Man’ after a viral video showed him bravely confronting stabber Joel Cauchi on an escalator.
It is understood he intervened to prevent the attacker from reaching an area where many children had been playing at Westfield Bondi Junction.
His visa expires in a month and a petition has been launched to grant him Australian citizenship after his heroic acts amid the Bondi Junction stabbing.
On Tuesday morning Albanese was asked about Guerot’s visa.
‘I say to Damien Guerot, who deals with your visa applications, that you are welcome here. You are welcome to stay as long as you like.
‘This is someone we would appreciate if he became an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France.
‘We thank you for your extraordinary bravery. He says a lot about the nature of humanity.
‘At a time when we are facing difficult issues, someone who is not a citizen of this country bravely stood at the top of those escalators and stopped this perpetrator from going up to another floor and potentially inflicting more massacre on citizens.
“I think on Saturday we saw the best of human character at the same time as we saw such a devastating tragedy and I thank Damien for his extraordinary efforts.
He was going to the gym with fellow Frenchman Silas Despreaux on Saturday afternoon when they stumbled upon the scene of the massacre.
“We tried to catch him but he was coming down the stairs,” Guerot told 7News.
“Then we saw him fall, so we followed him from above. Maybe we tried to throw the bollard at him, but we couldn’t.
Mr. Guerot said he was losing pure “adrenaline.”
‘We don’t think. You can’t think at that moment,’ she said.
Guerot said Cauchi had “empty eyes” and photographs of him published today looked nothing like the man who embarked on an indiscriminate stabbing frenzy.
“His eyes were like empty eyes… he wasn’t there,” Mr. Guerot said.
The two officers threw the bollards at Cauchi but he managed to escape.
Guerot grabbed a chair and chased New South Wales Police Inspector Amy Scott, who shot Cauci dead after he lunged at her.
The Frenchman praised Inspector Scott’s quick thinking.
“She was actually the hero, she did the job,” he said.