2024 Wakeley church stabbing

Wakeley hosts the highest number of Assyrian Christians of any suburban neighbourhood in Australia, many of them refugees from Iraq and Syria. and established his own independent Church. He was a prominent critic of lockdowns and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. He espoused conservative stances on issues such as LGBT rights and sexuality. He had also voiced solidarity with the Palestinians during the Gaza war, and had called for peace. Clips from his live-streamed sermons have been posted on social media and have amassed millions of views, giving him an international following. According to Emmanuel himself, about one month before the stabbing, threats were spread on TikTok stating "the Bishop has two weeks to live". == Stabbing ==

The stabbings took place around 7:10pm An assailant wearing a black jumper entered Christ The Good Shepherd Church on Welcome Street, in the head and upper body. Members of the congregation rushed forward to subdue the attacker, and gathered around the victim. == Casualties ==

Three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack: bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, 53, who was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition; the hospital was placed under a partial lockdown. Two men were treated for lacerations suffered in restraining the attacker, including a 39-year-old priest and another man in his 60s. This occurred during the ensuing scuffle. == Suspect ==

A suspect was apprehended and taken into custody. later revised to 16. He had previously been convicted in January 2024 for weapons offences and stalking, intimidation and damaging property, but was released on a good behaviour bond by a court in Sydney. The assailant's identity was withheld due to juvenile laws in New South Wales. According to a Muslim community leader who spoke with the suspect's family, the suspect expressed remorse to his mother and apologised for his actions. He added that the suspect's relatives, who transferred residence for fear of retaliation, condemned the attack, while the suspect's mother said that he had sought treatment from psychiatrists to control his anger. == Investigation ==

Police stated that the stabbing had "elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism." At a press conference in Canberra, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director General Mike Burgess said that the intelligence agency was aware of allegations by the assailant that the bishop had insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force Karen Webb said police had spoken with the boy's parents, but could not provide details. A counter-terrorism task force was set up to investigate, particularly whether other persons were involved. The task force consisted of officials from the New South Wales Police Force, the Australian Federal Police, and ASIO. and appeared before a bedside juvenile court hearing on 19 April. The magistrate recommended that he undergo a mental health assessment and ordered him remanded at a children's detention center upon being released from hospital pending his next court hearing on 14 June. At that hearing, the suspect was charged with one count of injuring with intent to murder Emmanuel and another count of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm the other priest who was injured in the attack. Police have alleged that the attacker was part of an Islamic State network that were also connected to other violence, including violent attacks targeting LGBTQ people at various locations in Sydney, and historical or indirect connections to the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting. ==Aftermath==

}} Footage of the stabbing circulated among Assyrian, Maronite, Catholic and Coptic communities via text message leading to people arriving to the church in cars within minutes. More than 100 police personnel were deployed to the church location to confront gathered outside the church and the hospital, where they believed the alleged attacker was being held. The crowd screamed "Bring him out!" as police and paramedics remained inside the church with the alleged offender for a few hours. A total of 30 people in the crowd were injured during the riots, with seven hospitalised. Three injured police officers were taken to hospital but released the following day. Twenty police vehicles were damaged, with ten rendered unusable. Dozens of rounds of live ammunition, police uniforms and bulletproof vests were also stolen from the damaged police vehicles. Six paramedics were trapped inside the church for more than three hours due to the violence. Several houses were also broken into. In his first statements since the attack, released on 18 April, Mar Mari Emmanuel said that he was "recovering quickly" and that he had forgiven the attacker. He also urged his congregation to cooperate with authorities and not to retaliate. Mar Mari Emmannuel lost sight in one of his eyes as a consequence of the stabbing. On 17 April one of the injured was discharged from hospital. Police were deployed in mosques across Sydney after reports that text messages were being circulated calling for the Assyrian Christian community to retaliate against Muslims. The Lakemba Mosque, the largest in the country, also hired additional private security after receiving fire bomb threats on 15 April. The Islamophobia Register of Australia recorded 46 reports of hate-related incidents following the Wakeley stabbing and the earlier stabbing incident in Bondi Junction, which it partially attributed to misinformation released by Islamophobic figures. Arrests The first arrest in relation to the riots was made on 17 April, when a 19-year-old man from Doonside was charged with riot, affray and destroying or damaging property during public disorder. Police said they were seeking the identities of around 50 people from the crowd. A fourth person, a 23-year-old man from Fairfield, surrendered to police on 22 April. The tenth arrest was a 27-year-old Granville man. Karen Webb stressed that the rioters were not related to the church's parish, and only used the original attack "as an excuse" to brawl with the police. On 24 April, as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged stabbing incident, counter-terrorism police arrested seven teenagers (aged 14–17), whom police alleged profess a "religiously motivated violent extremist ideology" and were an "unacceptable risk to the people of New South Wales". The next day, five of those arrested were charged with terrorism and extremism offences, including possessing extremist material and conspiring to plan or prepare for a terrorist act. Police alleged that these offences were identified based on a search of the accused stabber's electronic devices. ==Reactions==

The Christ the Good Shepherd's administration requested prayers for the victims of the attack as well as the alleged perpetrator in accordance with Bishop Emmanuel and Father Isaac's wishes. It also called on those that had gathered at the church to "leave in peace". Bishop Emmanuel stated he had forgiven his assailant and called for his followers to be calm and law abiding amid the riots. Councillor Steve Christou of the Cumberland City Council stated "It just shows the remarkable courage of a man and the forgiveness he has within him to pray for his alleged attacker." Regarding the government's attempts to remove videos of the attack from social media, Emmanuel said he was not opposed to the videos remaining online, citing freedom of speech concerns. The attack was condemned by other religious leaders, groups and organisations including the Australian National Imams Council and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry following a meeting with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who also expressed sympathies with victims and emergency services Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack, saying that there was no place for "violence in our community" and "violent extremism". He also called on Australians to "unite, not divide, as a community, and as a country." Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Security of ASIO, declared that Australia's terror threat level was "possible", which meant extremism was an existing danger. Despite X blocking footage of the stabbing in Australia, on 22 April, the Federal Court of Australia granted an appeal by the Australian eSafety Commission to order X to block the footage globally on a temporary basis within 24 hours while hearing on a petition to make the ban permanent. The ban was extended on 10 May, but was lifted on 13 May, with Justice Geoffrey Kennett saying that it was unreasonable for the eSafety Commission to require X to remove access to the video globally and noting that a block would be "ignored or disparaged" by other countries. The eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant dropped the Federal Court case on 5 June 2024, but stated that she would continue legal action in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. ==See also==