The attack by a man with a knife on Monday (15) at a Christian church in Sydney, Australia, which left a bishop and parishioners injured, was an act of terrorism, it said on Tuesday (16, local date) New South Wales State Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
“We believe that there are elements that satisfy [essa
declaração] in terms of [um ato] religiously motivated extremist,” said the commissioner at a press conference.
Webb added that the attacker went “with a certain degree of premeditation” to the Assyrian Church of Christ the Good Shepherd, in the Wakeley neighborhood, about 30 kilometers from the center of Sydney.
She also clarified that the perpetrator, who was not identified, was not on any terrorist watch list.
“This incident is extremely worrying,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an interview with broadcaster WSFM this Tuesday, emphasizing that in his country “there is no place for violence” nor “for violent extremism ”.
The attack took place around 7pm local time (6am Brasília time) on Monday, while a religious ceremony was being broadcast live on social media.
The broadcast showed the attacker approaching the altar where the bishop was addressing the parish and stabbing him repeatedly, even as he lay on the floor.
Parishioners rushed to help the religious man and managed to stop the terrorist.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, 65, has thousands of followers on social media and became known during the Covid-19 pandemic for sermons against vaccines and the LGBT community. He is recovering from his injuries and is not at risk of death, like the others injured, according to police.
After the attack, there was commotion around the church, located in a multicultural community in western Sydney, between authorities and a crowd demanding that whoever was responsible for the terrorist act be handed over to them, according to images posted on social media.
The stabbing occurred about 48 hours after another knife attack in the Australian city, but in a shopping center and in which seven people – including the attacker – died.
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