Chilling audio is circulating on social media of a man praising the teenager who allegedly repeatedly stabbed a Christian bishop, stating that “we should all strive to be like him.”
The 16-year-old, who is under arrest and cannot be identified for legal reasons, allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel while he was delivering a live-streamed sermon in front of parishioners at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, West from Sydney, on Monday. after 7 p.m.
The incident sparked riots outside the church with a crowd of 2,000 chanting “get him out” and “an eye for an eye” as police kept him inside the building amid fears for his own safety.
On Wednesday afternoon, police revealed they had arrested a 19-year-old man, the first to be investigated over the “public order incident”.
The attack and its ugly aftermath, in which some officers were injured by projectiles and some 50 police vehicles damaged, were condemned across the political spectrum.
The 16-year-old, who is under arrest and cannot be identified for legal reasons, allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel while he was delivering a live-streamed sermon in front of parishioners at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, West from Sydney, on Monday. after 7pm (pictured)
Foreign accounts of X also praise his actions, with one calling him a “champion” and “hero who broke with the head of the coexistence community” (pictured).
But now a WhatsApp voice note has emerged from a man praising the alleged killer’s actions and claiming the bishop “deserves to be massacred”.
“I’ll be honest with you, at the end of the day, anyone who talks about the prophet (in unintelligible Arabic)… deserves to be slaughtered, beaten whatever you want to call it,” the man said.
‘This 15, 16 year old boy had the courage (in unintelligible Arabic) to go and do what he did.’
Man praises teenager as a ‘soldier’
The guts he had to do what he did,” the man said.
‘Today no man has an ounce of what he has (unintelligible Arabic).
“We should all strive to be like this child.”
The alleged teenage terrorist accused of stabbing a western Sydney church leader during a service had recently been given a good behavior bond for knife offences.
The man claimed he was “jealous” of the alleged knifeman’s actions.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb called the alleged stabbing a “terrorist incident.”
Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory strongly condemned the recording and suggested the alleged attack “will likely provide further inspiration to potential terrorists in Australia and abroad”.
“It is shameful that there are people who praise a brutal Islamist terrorist who stabs an innocent religious leader,” he said.
“Australia has a serious and growing problem with Islamic extremism and we fear the government is not up to the task of protecting Australians.”
Sydney faith leaders met with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns the day after the stabbing.
Minns thanked them for their “commitment to peace and unity” and said it was a “big-hearted gesture by our religious leaders to protect our communities.”
“We must remain calm and respect the law,” he said.
Below an image of the defendant smiling while pinned to the ground, the caption in Arabic translates to “I swear to God you are a hero. Your smile destroyed them more than your knife” (pictured)
He said the incident should highlight that violent extremism has no place in Australia.
“Almost every person who practices faith in this state would never participate in an act of violence.”
Minns said if the group’s message had reached just one person who might be at risk of radicalization “it would have been worth it.”
The 16-year-old was eventually taken from the church in an armored police vehicle and taken to an undisclosed hospital where he underwent surgery for hand injuries sustained during the alleged attack.
He accidentally cut his finger during the alleged attack, after rumors initially spread on social media that he had been injured by vigilantes.