Texts calling for revenge spark rapid police response after Assyrian Church ‘terror attack’ in Sydney’s south-west
Text messages calling on the Assyrian Christian community to launch revenge attacks spread rapidly across the city in the wake of the stabbing of a popular bishop in Sydney last night.
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Text messages calling on the Assyrian Christian community to launch revenge attacks for the stabbing of a popular bishop spread rapidly across Sydney last night, forcing police to hurriedly move to protect Islamic mosques.
NSW Police became aware of the concerning messages and rising religious tensions within hours of a 16-year-old allegedly walking into Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley about 7pm on Monday, and attacking beloved Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.
“There were messages going around telling people to attack mosques,” one man said, a claim that police sources confirmed.
Videos from outside the church showed thousands chanting ‘an eye for an eye’, as police detained the teenager inside the church.
The threats resulted in police deploying officers to known Islamic locations in the city’s south-west, including the Green Valley Mosque, late on Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday.
News of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari, which also saw Father Isaac Royel injured, quickly spread online because his sermon was being live streamed online.
In the footage horrified parishioners could be seen tackling the teenage knifeman to the ground after he lunged at Bishop Mar Mari.
Police sources confirmed that as churchgoers detained the young attacker, one of his fingers were severed.
It can also be revealed the teenager allegedly responsible had previously been charged by NSW Police with knife offences.
Because of the religious links to the stabbing, NSW Police, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) have declared the incident a terror attack.
The pandemonium and chaos that followed the live streamed stabbing attack saw thousands descend on the church, with the bloodthirsty group initially trying to break-in to attack the teen before destroying anything and everything in sight.
More than 45 NSW Police cars were damaged as all available resources were called to the scene.
Premier Chris Minns acknowledged there was “community anxiety” in the wake of the Bondi Junction massacre, but again urged for calm while police investigated.
“I understand coming just days after the criminal activities in Bondi Junction, Sydney and New South Wales is on edge and there’s understandable community anxiety at the moment,” he said.
“This is a major and serious criminal investigation. It is crucial that NSW Police are able to devote their resources and intelligence, as well as officers, to the investigation of this crime.
“I want to make something very, very clear. There is no such thing in Australia to in taking the law into your own hands. It doesn’t exist. That’s for several reasons.”
Bishop Mar Mari was stabbed as he delivered a live-streamed mass with the stream followed in countries including the UK and US.
Video from inside the church showed the alleged attacker dressed in all black running up to the altar and stabbing the religious leader multiple times, before churchgoers and his fellow priest Isaac Royel ran to his aid.
When police arrived at the scene a short time later they detained the alleged attacker on the ground.
But they were soon forced to barricade themselves inside the church for several hours “for his safety”, Assistant Commissioner Andy Holland said, as video of the incident spread and thousands gathered outside the church.
Commissioner Holland said the teen was known to police and was not a member of the congregation, but the incident, which he described as “rash”, had left him with serious injuries of his own.
“We’re making inquiries now as to how well he is known to police … we do know he’s not a regular attendee of the church,” Asst Comm Holland said.
“His injuries are severe in his hand, he’s being looked at by doctors and obviously we’ll be talking to him probably (on Tuesday).”
Police finally were able to remove the teen from the church late on Monday, before taking him to an undisclosed hospital for treatment, where he remains under police guard.
Comm Holland added the teen was “fairly upset and distraught” and was asking for his parents.
More than 100 police swarmed to the scene as the mob grew, but at least two officers were injured as they clashed with members outside the church.
A constable was hit with a metal object and sustained a twisted knee and a chipped tooth.
Another constable sustained a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and a fence paling.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb has used a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday morning to slam the angry mob that stormed the church, forcing police officers to barricade themselves inside.
“Police attended the incident in Wakeley last night to assist that community,” she said.
“In response to calls for assistance and the crowd turned on police. That is unacceptable.
“And those that were involved in that riot can expect a knock at the door.
“It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow. But we will find you and we will come and arrest you. That is totally unacceptable.”
Comm Holland said the bishop and clergyman’s injuries were non-life-threatening and called the “emotional response” to the stabbing “disappointing”.
“We’re a little bit disappointed in the community, a number of houses have been damaged, they broke into a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at police,” he said.
“It’s an emotional response from the community, when someone in the church is injured the way they have been … the local community has gone into uproar, given that there has been incidents obviously in Sydney in the last few days with knives involved, obviously there’s concerns and obviously the community had a response.”
Video from inside the church shows churchgoers berating the teenager and slapping him on the head, as police held the alleged attacker on the ground.
“You f--king what ...people are praying and you gonna come and do this?” one man said.
“Don’t, don’t, stop, just let it go, please, you’re only going to make it worse,” a policeman told the crowd, as he pinned the alleged attacker down.
At the same time, videos from outside showed the angry mob smashing police cars with bricks and chanting “bring him out” and “eye for an eye” as they surrounded the church.
When 100s of police including the Public Order and Riot Squad and Raptor Squad arrived at the church, they clashed with the furious mob.
POLICE ATTACKED
A constable was hit with a metal object and sustained a twisted knee and a chipped tooth.
Another constable sustained a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and a fence paling.
Comm Holland said the bishop and clergyman’s injuries were non-life-threatening and called the “emotional response” to the stabbing “disappointing”.
“We’re a little bit disappointed in the community, a number of houses have been damaged, they broke into a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at police,” he said.
“It’s an emotional response from the community, when someone in the church is injured the way they have been … the local community has gone into uproar, given that there has been incidents obviously in Sydney in the last few days with knives involved, obviously there’s concerns and obviously the community had a response.”
Comm Holland said a strike force would be set up to investigate offenders and urged anyone with footage of the incident to pass it onto police.
“Further patrols” of places of worship across southwest Sydney would be conducted by police overnight, he added.
Bishop Mar Mari gained prominence during the Covid pandemic after slamming Sydney’s lockdown as “mass slavery” and claimed vaccines are futile because living “normally” will boost immunity.
On a Facebook group alone, the bishop has nearly 290,000 followers.
His sermons are regularly live streamed internationally, with the incident on Monday night also making worldwide headlines.
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