NSW Police investigate another alleged threat on Sydney mosque
NSW Premier Chris Minns says he’s appalled by a second alleged mass shooting threat made against a second mosque in Padstow.
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NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was appalled by online threats made against a second mosque in Padstow as police investigate whether the incidents are linked.
NSW Police confirmed on Friday that inquiries were underway after online threats were allegedly made towards Lakemba Mosque on Wednesday and the second at Padstow on Thursday, asking anyone with information to contact authorities.
It comes after Mr Minns condemned the news a TikTok user had commented “Christchurch again please” on Lakemba Mosque’s official account.
“I hope the community can have confidence that charges will be laid, if people are found to have acted in this way there will be no tolerance shown,” he said.
“If people are going to drag up reprehensible, completely odious and frankly racist attacks on members of our community we are going to confront it with the laws and police action.
“I can only imagine what members of those Muslim communities are going through, they are in the middle of Ramadan... and the last they need to do is deal with this odious racism.”
The Daily Telegraph earlier revealed the commenter on the Lakemba post, ‘wello’, claimed to be an inmate at the Silverwater Prison and allegedly left a comment earlier this month on a United
Muslims of Australia post, saying “can’t wait till this place gets the Christchurch treatment”.
Police say the second alleged mass shooting threat was made from the same social media account.
He then made a further alleged comment in the replies, saying “they’ll come when your (sic) asleep during Ramadan”.
Two further comments were also made on the Lakemba Mosque’s post, with another account going by ‘King Baldwin’ writing “lets (sic) hope another Christchurch happens again”.
A now-deleted comment from an account, ‘Jackson’, wrote “Christchurch round 2 pls (sic)”.
Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) Secretary Gamel Kheir said the “three threats” on the video had been reported to police.
“Our concern is copycats, and if this first individual is not apprehended and brought to justice then it’s just going to embolden more and more of the racist element to leave stronger and nastier messages,” Mr Kheir said.
“We have … a moral obligation to make sure that this sort of racism and bigotry is stamped out.”
Mr Kheir said the “greatest fear” was someone “actually doing it”, especially during Ramadan where “huge crowds” of Muslims congregate at Mosques daily to pray.
“This Wednesday we’ve got (the) night of power, so we’re expecting over 10,000 people at Lakemba Mosque,” he said.
“But if I’m being truthful it’s not the major mosques that I’m more worried about, it’s the smaller mosques who don’t have that security … they’re very vulnerable.”
With the government “rightfully” investing in protecting synagogues across Sydney, Mr Kheir said they also had an “obligation” to protect the Muslim community and “their places of worship”.
In addressing the initial alleged threat, a NSW Police spokesperson said police take hate crimes seriously.
The spokesperson added that victims of hate crimes or witnesses should report the matter to police.
Multiculturalism Minister Steve Kamper had called the “Christchurch again please” comment “unconscionable and despicable” and added “Islamophobia has no place in our state”.
The LMA had also condemned the “vile” initial alleged threat, saying it came at a “time of peace, reflection, and unity” as Muslims continue the month of Ramadan.
The Islamophobia Register Australia has recorded a 530 per cent surge in Islamophobic incidents since October 2023.
The LMA has criticised government inaction and media coverage of these incidents, calling on the government to “enact legal protections against Islamophobia”.
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