The 16-year-old who allegedly stabbed a bishop in an act of terrorism justified his actions by telling witnesses that the Christian leader had “sworn” against one of his prophets and had reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” after the attack .
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked while delivering a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, western Sydney, on Monday night.
Horrified parishioners sprang into action, some rushing to the bishop’s aid and others helping to detain the teenager inside the church.
In the video of the stabbing, the 16-year-old is heard telling churchgoers in Arabic: “If I hadn’t insulted my Prophet, I wouldn’t be here.” “If he didn’t get involved in my religion, I wouldn’t be here.”
One of the men involved in restraining the teen after the attack told a police officer how he approached the teen from behind and forcefully pushed him to the ground.
“He kept saying, ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,'” he tells the officer in a video posted on social media.
AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw was asked to confirm the teenager’s religion, amid speculation he had recently converted to Islam.
“We have a lot of intelligence to review and confirm,” he said.
‘I can’t go through that. One of the things I want to say is a shameful act by the community that attacked the police in that place.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess was asked if he was aware of the comments and whether the bishop had said or done anything to trigger the attack.
“We are aware of those comments and everything else is open lines of investigation to understand why the individual got to where he got,” he said.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel (pictured) was attacked while giving a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church on Monday night along with a 16-year-old boy arrested by police.
In the video of the melee, the alleged attacker is heard saying in Arabic: “If he had not insulted my Prophet, I would not be here.” If he didn’t get involved in my religion I wouldn’t be here.’
AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) was asked to confirm the teenager’s religion, amid speculation he had recently converted to Islam.
Mr Burgess was asked why the Wakeley incident was considered a terrorist attack while the Bondi Junction stabbing was not.
“The simple answer is to call it a terrorist attack, for which you need indications, information or evidence to suggest that in fact the motivation was religious or ideological,” he said.
‘In the case of Saturday that was not the case. In this case [Wakeley] The information that we and the police have before us would clearly indicate that this is the case and that is why it was termed an act of terrorism.’
Burgess said ASIO would “look at people associated with the attacker to make sure there is no one else in the community with similar intentions”.
The spy chief added: ‘At this stage, we have no indication of this.
‘But it is prudent that we do this to determine that there are no immediate threats to security. Right now, we’re not seeing that.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, condemning the violence, said the National Security Committee had held a meeting on Monday night.
He said a joint counter-terrorism task force had been created with the AFP and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb declared on Tuesday that the attack was a “religion-centred” terrorist incident.
Police were seen outside the Assyrian Orthodox church in Wakeley on Tuesday.
Wakeley residents have expressed concern for the bishop’s well-being
Police confirmed that one of the 16-year-old alleged attacker’s fingers was cut off after he was taken away from the bishop.
It had been speculated that a member of the angry mob had been responsible, but it is now understood that he accidentally cut his own finger during the alleged attack.
Images showing the four fingers of the left hand being cut off are considered fake.
“People were vomiting from the pepper spray and running to houses for water,” he said.
He blamed the power of social media for how things got so bad.
“If it wasn’t for social media, the police would have gotten there before the people rioting and this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
‘They wanted blood. It was a great accumulation of chaos.
‘My only concern was the bishop’s well-being. ‘He is recovering, but I don’t think he will be discharged from the hospital anytime soon.’
The 16-year-old is under police surveillance at an undisclosed location.
He and the bishop underwent surgery on Tuesday morning.