At Forrest Place in Boorloo (Perth), on what this country officially calls Australia Day, around 2,500 people gathered to mark Invasion Day. They listened to speakers, held banners and, for a few hours, took up civic space in the way protest is meant to: visibly, peacefully, together. Then, from a balcony above, an object arced through the air and landed near the stage. Police allege it was a homemade improvised explosive device containing nails, ball bearings and chemicals, later described as a fragmentation‑style device with the potential to cause serious harm or death.