A church leader and several worshippers were stabbed during a service in Sydney’s west on Monday night, triggering a near-riot which required hundreds of police to bring under control.
Graphic footage captured on a livestream shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel speaking at the altar of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church as a man wearing a black jumper walks towards him and pulls out an implement.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed multiple times at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday night. Credit: X/@AustralianJA
As horrified churchgoers scream and run to safety, the man stabs the priest in the chest. The priest then falls to the floor and is stabbed a further five times as worshippers rush towards him and manage to separate the assailant from the priest.
Video taken in the aftermath of the stabbing shows the bishop on the floor as parishioners hold bandages against his head. Other footage shows the attacker smiling as he is held to the floor by a police officer.
elizabeth-cooper on April 15th, 2024 at 15:49 UTC »
Now they're saying it was a 15-year-old that did it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/australia-stabbing-church-sydney-suburb-wakeley-bishop-wounded/
frizzykid on April 15th, 2024 at 12:32 UTC »
If there is one thing the attack at the mall in Sydney has indicated, is that Australia is ripe for domestic instability caused by misinformation spread before the true motives of these attacks are documented. It is really wild how fast bad info can be spread and how few people are needed to propagate it.
Edit: An interesting x thread on the subject of the misinformation spread the other day after the Sydney Mall attack
suicidal_crayon on April 15th, 2024 at 12:00 UTC »
Someone say it’s paywalled so here’s the article in full:
A church leader and multiple worshippers have been stabbed during a service in Sydney’s west on Monday night, police have confirmed. Police say one man has been arrested and is helping them with their inquiries.
The attack occurred at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley. Graphic video uploaded to social media on Monday night shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel standing at the altar of the church and speaking to parishioners as a man wearing a black jumper walks towards him and pulls out an implement.
The attack occurred at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley. Graphic video uploaded to social media on Monday night shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel standing at the altar of the church and speaking to parishioners as a man wearing a black jumper walks towards him and pulls out an implement. Video taken in the aftermath of the stabbing shows the bishop on the floor as parishioners hold bandages against his head. The incident was livestreamed.
Four people were injured in the attack. A man in his 50s and another man in his 30s were taken to Liverpool Hospital with multiple lacerations. NSW Ambulance paramedics were treating a man in his 20s with lacerations to his hand and a man in his 60s with lacerations to his arm at the scene. Eleven ambulances attended the scene. Emmanuel is the leader of an ultra-conservative sect of the Assyrian Orthodox faith who took on an outsized role in the Christian Lives Matter movement.
He preached fire and brimstone in services that were livestreamed and attracted hardline Christians for his anti-LGBTQ sermons and pandemic scepticism.
Federal MP for Fowler Dai Le, whose south-west Sydney electorate includes the Christ The Good Shepherd Church, said her community was stunned by the stabbing, especially as it occurred only two days after the Westfield Bondi Junction mass stabbings. “This has shocked us,” she said. She described Emmanuel as a “wonderful bishop leading the Assyrian community”. “He’s increased his followers tremendously,” she said. Fowler has one of the country’s biggest Assyrian communities, including many members who fled war-torn Iraq for a safer life in Australia.
“We have one of the most multi-faith communities in country,” she said.“I do not believe we will be divided by this.” NSW Police said an operation is now underway. Officers attached to Fairfield City Police Area Command is at the location on Welcome Street. The community is urged to avoid the area.