A second knife attack in Sydney has recently been declared a terrorist attack

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SYDNEY – A teenager has been charged with wounding a Christian bishop and a priest during a church service in Sydney's second knife attack in recent days in what authorities have declared a terrorist attack on Tuesday.

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16-year-old Bishop Mar Marie Emmanuel and Fr. Isaac Royel during a service broadcast online Monday night.

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Police did not comment on reports that the boy's fingers were cut off by parishioners at an Orthodox Assyrian church in the suburb of Wakeley, but confirmed that his hand injuries were “serious”.

A video of the attack quickly went viral on social media, prompting an angry mob to gather at the church and demand revenge. They threw bricks and bottles at the police, who temporarily barricaded the boy inside the church for their own safety.

Several people, including police officers, were hospitalized after the riot lasted for several hours.

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Police and community leaders said there was heightened public concern after a knife attack by a lone attacker at a Sydney shopping mall on Saturday, when five female and male security guards tried to intervene. 40-year-old striker Joel Cauchi suffered from mental illness. He was shot dead by the police.

News South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Tuesday declared the attack at the church a terrorist incident, but not the attack at the shopping centre.

Terrorism classification allows law enforcement to focus more resources on crime. The declaration also gives police expanded powers to stop and search people, premises and vehicles without a warrant.

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Webb said the teenager's comments and actions indicate a religious motive for the attack. He did not elaborate on the text of the comments that led him to believe in religious reasons.

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“We believe there are elements that are satisfying in terms of religiously based extremism, and certainly to terrorize the public through the actions of that person, by going to that church, when it's being broadcast live, not only the visitors, but also the people. Parishioners looking online, then people from outside the church, and the chaos that followed,” Webb said.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country's main domestic intelligence agency, and the Australian Federal Police have joined the state police in a counter-terrorism task force to find out who else was involved.

ASIO director general Mike Burgess agrees with Webb that the mall attack was not terrorism.

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In order to call it a terrorist attack, Burgess said, “there must be information or evidence that the motivation was religious or ideological.” “That was not the case on Saturday. In this case, the information that we and the police have before us … clearly shows that this situation exists and that is why it has been called an act of terrorism.”

A coronial inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding the six stabbing deaths at the shopping center and what policy changes could be made to prevent similar attacks in the future. The expert also considers whether the security guards should be armed. Security guards at Westfield Bondi Junction mall, including stabbing victim Faraz Tahir, do not carry weapons.

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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he was reviewing government restrictions on arming security guards after the knife attack. But he refused to allow them to carry guns, arguing that the fewer firearms in the community, the better.

Mass killings are relatively rare in Australia because state ownership of rifle-style semi-automatic firearms is prohibited under strict national gun laws.

According to ASIO's tiering system, the threat of terrorist activity in Australia is rated as 'possible'. It is the second-lowest level in the five-tiered national terrorism threat advisory system, after “unexpected.” The threat has been downgraded from moderate to “likely” in 2022 with the decline of the Islamic State group.

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Webb said the teenage suspect in the church attack was known to police but was not on a terror watch list. He was convicted in January of a number of offences, including possession of a knife, possession of a weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence, stalking, intimidation and damage to property, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

A Sydney court released him on good behavior, ABC reports.

In Monday's attack, the boy used a switchblade, which is an illegal weapon in Australia, the ABC reported.

Juvenile offenders cannot be publicly identified in New South Wales.

In a message on social media, the church said the condition of the bishop and the priest was stable and asked people to pray.

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“It is the wish of the bishop and father that you also pray for the criminal,” the statement said.

The church said in a statement on Tuesday that the Iraqi-born bishop, 53, was “improving”.

Emmanuel is strong on social media and outspoken on many issues. He proselytizes both Jews and Muslims and criticizes liberal Christian denominations.

He also touched on global political issues and lamented the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The bishop, sometimes described in local media as a divisive figure on issues such as COVID-19 restrictions, has been in the national news over the past year for comments about gender.

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