Grim new details are revealed about teen’s alleged stabbing attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Wakeley Christ the Good Shepherd Church – as he faces court on terror charges from his hospital bed
A teenager who allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a Sydney church traveled up to 90 minutes from his home address to carry out the horrific attack.
The 16-year-old boy is expected to appear in court on Friday while under guard in hospital after being charged with committing an act of terrorism under Commonwealth law.
Police allege the teenager stabbed the 53-year-old bishop six times and attacked another priest during a live-streamed service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said items including electronic devices were seized from the teenager’s home on Tuesday before investigators spoke to the boy.
“Yesterday (Thursday), investigators visited a medical facility to interview the alleged perpetrator, where he was accused of committing a terrorist act,” he said.
“We maintain that the act committed meets the definition (of terrorism) for reasons set out in a statement, but I will not go into those facts here today.
“I want to emphasize that our work is not done yet… We focus on crime, not on countries, we investigate radicalization and not on religion.”
Mr Kershaw said investigators were still examining electronic material allegedly seized from the boy’s home.
“As you probably know, people have thousands and thousands of videos and images that they store and also what we find on social media,” he said.
The 16-year-old boy is expected to appear in court on Friday while under guard in hospital after being accused of committing a terrorist act, Police Chief Karen Webb said.
“The joint counter-terrorism team will forensically review all that material to determine what the other investigative options are, but also to use evidence for the indictment.”
Mr Kershaw said the AFP was “really encouraging the big companies to do the right thing” after Facebook was ordered to remove content linked to the alleged attack.
“They know that’s going through their systems and their servers, and they need to do the right thing and get that stuff off the Internet,” he said.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, in turn, condemned “the spread of misinformation on social media” and said social media sites “play a role”.
“I think running a social media platform has to come with great social, corporate responsibility,” she said.
“I think if such images are online they should be removed immediately and not left there.”
The first man arrested over the alleged riot, 19-year-old Dani Mansour (pictured), was told in court on Thursday he was facing allegations he filmed himself kicking two police cars
Ms Webb could not provide details of the allegations but said police allege the teenager traveled up to 90 minutes from his home address to carry out the attack.
The teenage boy, who cannot be identified, was restrained by parishioners and later taken to hospital, where he still has his own finger cut off.
The teen’s arrest led to a violent confrontation between police, with rioters reportedly vandalizing patrol cars and throwing rocks and bricks at officers.
The first man arrested over the alleged riot, 19-year-old Dani Mansour, was told in court on Thursday he was facing charges that he filmed himself kicking two police cars.
The Mount Druitt barber was given strict conditional bail by Magistrate Aaron Tang, who ordered Mr Mansour not to communicate with any of the 2,000 rioters.