Extra police as leaders call for calm in shocked, ‘combustible’ Sydney
The police presence will be bolstered across western Sydney and around places of worship for days as “combustible” conditions persist following the stabbing of a church bishop.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says Australia’s largest city is experiencing an abnormal situation following two major public attacks, and there’s no point pretending otherwise.
“I can understand people’s concern and anxiety in what has been an incredibly difficult week in Sydney,” he said.
His comments follow the stabbing of an outspoken bishop at a western Sydney church, which has been declared an act of terror, and the killing of six people at an eastern suburbs shopping centre by a mentally ill man.
The Monday night church attack led to a riot during which police were injured and their cars damaged as officers and paramedics were forced to shelter in the place of worship with the alleged stabber, a 16-year-old boy.
“It is a combustible situation, there’s no point in pretending that everything is as normal,” Minns told Seven’s Sunrise programme yesterday.
Police patrols had been enhanced, particularly in western Sydney and around religious institutions, for the remainder of the week, he said.
Threats were made against Lakemba Mosque, one of Australia’s largest Muslim places of worship, following the attack on the Christian church, which investigators said was religiously motivated.
The public is being urged to come together and act reasonably.
“Take the heed from the civic and religious leaders of this state who are calling for calm and an absolute repudiation of all kinds of violence,” Minns said.
The stabbing attack at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley left Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest hospitalised after a knife-wielding teen struck during a live-streamed sermon.
It has been declared an act of terrorism. However, the alleged attacker - a 16-year-old with a history of knife-related crime – is yet to be charged.
Minns said he had spoken with five officers who had been hospitalised after the riot. “Several of them were back out on shift the next day,” he said, praising their dedication.
Footage of the attack and subsequent riots were widely shared on social media, where federal frontbencher and Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek warned that lies were being used to divide a reeling city.
“We know there are people deliberately trying to stoke division on social media ... switch if off if you can,” Plibersek told ABC TV.
The Lebanese Muslim Association has shared footage of Lakemba Mosque Imam Sheikh Yahya Safi condemning the attack.
“This is against our religion. We don’t accept it in any way, and it is a childish act,” he said in the video message. “We need our society to keep this tranquillity, to live together in safety.”
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils also condemned the stabbing as an atrocious act.
“Such an act of brutality stands in stark opposition to our cherished values of peace, empathy, and reciprocal respect,” it said in a statement, urging community members to help with the police investigation.
The church stabbing has revived the debate over stricter knife laws, which Minns said he was considering.
Another stabbing near a school in Doonside, in Sydney’s west, last Friday left an 18-year-old dead and a 19-year-old wounded. Several teenagers have been charged with murder following the incident.
The NSW state government doubled the maximum penalties for possessing or wielding a knife in a public place after paramedic Steven Tougher was killed a year ago.