Billionaire Elon Musk weighs in on bombshell charges against Australian war hero Ben Roberts-Smith as the Victoria Cross recipient spends the night in jail – and new details emerge about how his arrest unfolded in front of his daughters

Elon Musk has weighed in on the arrest of Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts‑Smith, describing the development as ‘insane’ in a brief but high‑profile post on X. 

Musk, the billionaire owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, responded on Tuesday to a viral post that reported Roberts‑Smith had been arrested over alleged war crimes linked to his service in Afghanistan. 

Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of war crime – murder late on Tuesday afternoon and appeared briefly in court where he was denied bail. He was transferred to Silverwater Prison where he will spend Tuesday night before he is set to appear for another bail hearing on Wednesday morning. 

Musk was responding to an X post made by Australian social media figure and conservative political activist Drew Pavlou, who was supportive of Roberts-Smith. 

Roberts‑Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, was earlier arrested by Australian Federal Police officers at Sydney Domestic Airport on Tuesday morning after arriving on a flight from Brisbane.

New details indicate the retired SAS corporal was taken into custody in front of his teenage twin daughters, who were also on the flight with Robert-Smiths girlfriend as it was for a family holiday. 

Vision captured AFP officers escorting him on the tarmac shortly after the aircraft touched down, with officers waiting at the arrivals gate.

The charges follow a lengthy joint investigation by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) and the AFP into alleged unlawful killings during Australia’s military deployment in Afghanistan.

Each offence Roberts-Smith has been charged with has a maximum penalty of life in prison. 

According to investigators, the charges are connected to alleged incidents in Uruzgan Province across multiple tours. 

Prosecutors allege Roberts‑Smith intentionally caused the death of a person during a April 12, 2009 operation at Kakarak. 

He also allegedly aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause a death during the same operation.

Further charges relate to a separate incident on or about 11 September 2012 at Darwan, where he is accused of assisting in the intentional killing of a person.

Authorities also allege Roberts‑Smith acted alongside another individual to intentionally cause a death on or about 20 October 2012 at Syahchow, as well as aiding or procuring a killing at the same location and date.

Among the allegations are that he shot dead one man and brought his prosthetic leg back to Australia to use as a trophy to drink beer. 

He is also accused of kicking a man, whose arms were tied, of a 10metre cliff before ordering another soldier to shoot him.

Roberts‑Smith earned the Victoria Cross in 2011 for what was officially described as extraordinary bravery, after single‑handedly assaulting Taliban machine‑gun positions to protect fellow soldiers. 

For years, he was publicly celebrated as a national war hero, later becoming a prominent public figure and media executive.

The arrest marks a dramatic escalation in a legal saga that has already reshaped Australia’s understanding of its longest war. 

It follows years of investigative reporting, internal defence inquiries, and the establishment of the OSI to pursue potential criminal accountability arising from the Afghanistan conflict.