Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim fruit seller who rose to global fame for disarming a gunman in last year’s mass terror shooting at a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to assaulting his father.

Ahmed was hailed as a hero when viral video footage showed him intervening in the December 14 antisemitic attack by father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram, which killed 15 people. The 44-year-old ducked between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, grabbing one of the two gunmen and wresting away his weapon in an effort to stop the killing.

Facing court in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown on Wednesday, Ahmed denied charges of common assault and domestic stalking or intimidation, according to court documents provided to AFP. The next court hearing was set for August 12.

“It has been very difficult. It is a family situation that he never expected, one would never want to expect, and it must be very difficult for him,” his lawyer Mohamad Sakr told journalists outside court.

The attorney added, “There is one thing that must be upheld, and that is the presumption of innocence. He........

© The Times of Israel