Bishop seriously injured
Police in Australia consider knife attack during church service in Sydney to be an act of terrorism
After the knife attack in a church in Sydney, the police are securing evidence there
© Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
The bishop of a Christian community in Sydney is attacked during mass. An angry mob then moves to the church and the situation escalates. The government warns against vigilantism. Investigators are now assuming an act of terrorism.
Investigators have classified the attack on clergy at a Christian congregation in Sydney during a church service as an act of terrorism. The motive of the alleged perpetrator, who was around 16 years old, was obviously in the area of ”religiously motivated extremism,” said Karen Webb, the police chief of the Australian state of New South Wales, at a press conference on Tuesday morning (local time). The injured victims therefore include: Bishop of the Assyrian community in Sydney’s western suburb Wakeley and at least one priest. They underwent surgery and only survived by luck, Webb said.
The bishop held a mass in the church of the local Assyrian community on Monday evening. Footage of the live broadcast of the service published online shows the attacker approaching the priest during mass and punching him before eyewitnesses rush to intervene. According to Webb, the crime was probably committed with a folding knife. The attacker was later arrested and, according to Webb, was previously known to police but was not on any watch list for terror suspects. The investigators are talking to his parents to find out more about the teenager’s motive.
Riots in front of a church in Sydney – police officers injured
After the crime, there were chaotic scenes in front of the church, where a crowd of hundreds of angry people gathered within a short time, alongside rescue workers and police officers. The situation escalated quickly, riots broke out, and according to Webb, police units from all over the metropolis of Sydney were called in for reinforcements. During the riots, several officers were injured and 20 emergency vehicles were damaged; ten were no longer usable. The emergency services were attacked with bricks and fence posts, and a police officer suffered a broken jaw. Even paramedics had to barricade themselves in the church for hours because they were threatened by the angry crowd.
According to police, the perpetrator himself was also injured – it initially remained unclear how he suffered the apparently serious injuries. According to media reports, several of his fingers were cut off. When asked by journalists whether the angry mob was responsible, Webb replied that it was part of the investigation. According to their own information, the emergency services had to treat a total of 30 patients and seven injured people were taken to hospital.
Police want to catch rioters after knife attack
The police chief announced that the security authorities would investigate all perpetrators of violence and hold them accountable for the riots. “Everyone who was involved in these riots can expect that we will be knocking on their door,” Webb said. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we will find you and we will arrest you. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
The Prime Minister of New South Wales, Chris Minns, made an urgent appeal to all residents of the state to refrain from all forms of vigilantism: “In Australia, the law is not taken into their own hands,” he emphasized at the press conference. On the evening of the crime there was a meeting with the leaders of religious communities in Sydney, and everyone called on them to remain peaceful and to renounce all violence.