Attack on Sydney church where Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed was ‘terrorist’ attack, police say – live – The Independent

Police are standing guard around mosques in parts of Sydney after reports that text messages were circulating urging the Assyrian Christian community to retaliate against Muslims.

It follows the attack on Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel as he delivered a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, west of Sydney.

Video of the incident quickly spread on social media and an angry crowd converged on the church to demand revenge.

The Church said in a statement Tuesday that it “denounces any form of retaliation.”

Bishop Emmanuel has a large following on social media and has spoken out on a range of issues, including the fate of Palestinians in Gaza.

Community leaders are calling for calm after a teenager was accused of injuring a Christian bishop and priest during a church service in a second high-profile stabbing attack to rock Sydney in recent days.

The 16-year-old was subdued by the shocked congregation at Christ the Good Shepherd Church after allegedly stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and Father Isaac Royel during a service Monday streamed online.

Video of the attack quickly spread on social media and an angry crowd clashed with police outside the church.

They threw bricks, bottles and fence boards at police, who temporarily barricaded the boy inside the church for his own safety. Several people, including police officers, had to be hospitalized after the riots which lasted several hours.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged the public not to take the law into their own hands.

“We understand the distress and concerns that exist in the community, particularly following the tragic event at Bondi Junction on Saturday,” Mr Albanese told reporters, referring to the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.

“But it is not acceptable to obstruct and injure police in the exercise of their duty or to damage police vehicles as we saw last night,” he added.

Following Monday’s attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanue at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country’s main national spy agency, and the Australian Federal Police have joined the state police in an antiterrorism task force to investigate who else. could be involved.

ASIO chief executive Mike Burgess said the investigation had not yet uncovered any associated threats.

“This appears to be religiously motivated, but we are continuing our investigations,” Burgess said.

“Our job is to vet individuals linked to the attacker to ensure there is no one else in the community with similar intentions. At this stage we have no indication of that,” Burgess added.

According to ASIO advice, the risk of a terrorist attack in Australia is deemed “possible”. This is the second lowest level after “not expected” according to the five-tier National Terrorism Threat Advisory System.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was stabbed during a church service live-streamed from Sydney on Monday, is a social media star with followers around the world, but the bearded cleric is also a divisive preacher.

Dressed in dark robes, holding a large cross and sporting a bushy gray beard under a black hood, Emmanuel’s sermons of the Assyrian Church of Christ the Good Shepherd range from homilies on the Bible to fiery critiques of homosexuality, vaccinations, Islam and US President Joe Biden. election.

The 53-year-old bishop, followed by a popular youth on TikTok and rewarded by YouTube in 2023 for reaching 100,000 subscribers, has however been the target of criticism, hatred and online trolling.

Emmanuel’s popularity peaked during the COVID pandemic because his sermons were online, according to Mary Anoya, 17, whose family attends his church. Like the other students at her high school, she prefers to watch her sermons on TikTok.

“I think everyone follows him on TikTok,” the teen said Tuesday outside the church.

“Since he started becoming famous, his words have been distorted. I grew up knowing who he was, I know what type of person he is and all of that is just taken out of context.

Footage of the assassination of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney shocked the world when it was broadcast live on the church’s YouTube channel.

Clips have since been shared on social media platforms X and Facebook, leading Australian e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant to issue 24 hours’ notice to companies tasked with removing them.

She said the images had been considered “material depicting gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail”.

If Meta, which controls Facebook, and X do not comply, the companies could face fines, Ms Inman Grant warned.

She said: “While the majority of mainstream social media platforms have engaged with us, I am not convinced enough is being done to protect Australians from this most extreme and gratuitous violent material that circulates online.

“That is why I am exercising my powers under the Online Safety Act to formally require them to remove it. I have sent a notice to X asking them to remove this content. A legal notice will also be sent to Meta this afternoon, and other notices will likely follow. I will not hesitate to use the graduated powers at my disposal in the event of non-compliance.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the Frenchman who took on Bondi Junction attacker Joel Cauchi for his “extraordinary courage” and said he could stay in the country for as long as he wanted.

Damien Guerot, a French construction worker, was dubbed by some as the “bollard man” after CCTV footage showed him confronting Cauchi with a bollard on an escalator during the deadly knife attack in Westfield Bondi Junction.

Six people were killed in the attack and 12 injured before Cauchi was shot dead by a police officer.

Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra: “I say this to Damien Guerot – who is dealing with his visa applications – that you are welcome here, you can stay as long as you want.

A 15-year-old boy arrested after stabbing a bishop during a church service in Sydney on Monday suffered “serious” injuries to his hand, police have confirmed.

Footage broadcast online of the service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church, in the suburb of Wakeley, showed a person walking towards the altar before appearing to attack Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.

They were then overpowered by the faithful who rushed to the bishop’s aid.

It has since emerged that the teenage suspect in the attack was taken to hospital.

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Holland praised the congregation for intervening in the incident before calling the police. When asked if the accused teen’s fingers had been severed, he said the injuries to his hands were “severe.”