One of the leaders of the Convoy to Canberra anti-vaccine mandate protests has been released from custody after he was allegedly caught with a modified rifle and 124 rounds at an unlawful campsite.
West Australian doomsday prepper James Edward Greer, 44, was granted bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday morning.
He did not enter pleas to charges alleging he possessed a firearm and ammunition without authorisation.
In court documents, police say they received information amid the ongoing protests in the parliamentary triangle that suggested Mr Greer had a sawn-off gun in his camouflage-coloured truck.
Officers received a warrant to search that vehicle, which they found on Friday in the centre of the Patrick White Lawns as they moved on people camping unlawfully in the suburb of Parkes.
Police located Mr Greer inside the truck about 9.09am on Friday.
During a subsequent search, officers claim to have found a .22 bolt-action rifle and 124 rounds of ammunition in a storage cupboard towards the back of the vehicle.
The weapon, which had a shortened barrel and stock, was allegedly loaded with a single round.
Mr Greer is said to have declined to comment on the items, which were seized, though he told police "the truck was his home".
He said he and his partner lived in the rear of the vehicle, where there was a bed.
Mr Greer was arrested about 11.37am on Friday and taken to the ACT watch house.
Subsequent checks revealed the man's firearms licence, issued in Western Australia, had been cancelled in 2020 and not renewed.
His driver's licence was also expired, and the number plates on his truck "were not properly issued in any state or territory of Australia".
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After a night in police custody, Mr Greer appeared before magistrate James Lawton from a remote room within the court precinct.
A prosecutor opposed bail and argued the 44-year-old posed a likelihood of committing more crimes, failing to appear in court in the future, and endangering the safety or welfare of others.
He said Mr Greer had "no real ties to the ACT" and the court could not guarantee the man would return to face his charges if he kept "travelling around in a van".
The prosecutor added that the 44-year-old had allegedly possessed the firearm in a public place while it was loaded, with "a substantial amount" of ammunition on hand.
A Legal Aid duty lawyer applied for bail on Mr Greer's behalf and noted the gun, to which the man no longer had access, had been locked away in the vehicle prior to its discovery.
"It wasn't accessible and it certainly wasn't used," she told the court.
The lawyer added that Mr Greer, a father and former engineer, owned farmland in Western Australia and intended to return there after his trip to Canberra for the protests.
The likelihood of a custodial sentence, she concluded, was "quite slim" in view of the allegations and Mr Greer's background.
Mr Lawton ultimately granted bail, saying his primary concern was about the risk Mr Greer would fail to return to court.
He believed conditions could ameliorate that risk, however, and noted an arrest warrant would be issued in the event of non-compliance.
Mr Greer was accordingly released on the condition he report to City Police Station each day.
He was also banned from being in the suburb of Parkes, except on one occasion in the company of police to collect his belongings.
The 44-year-old's case returns to court next Friday.
