SYDNEY (AP) — A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics during a Sydney church service has been charged by police with terrorism offenses.
Authorities said the stabbing was declared a terrorist act because of the teenager’s suspected religious motivation and that the boy traveled up to 90 minutes from his home to the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s western suburbs.
The teen spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad being insulted after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Rev. Isaac Royel during Monday night’s Assyrian Orthodox service. He was later overpowered by parishioners, sustaining severe hand injuries.
“Yesterday investigators attended a medical facility to interview the alleged offender where he was charged with committing a terrorist act,” said Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw at a press conference Friday in Sydney. The offense carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
How bad did Dylan Strome want to make the NHL playoffs? Ask his brothers
Discovering Ocean's Poetic Charms
China's NCPA to present opera by Richard Wagner
More Foreign Women's Organizations Stand Firm with China in Anti
Republicans file lawsuit challenging Evers's partial vetoes to literacy bill
More Foreign Women's Organizations Stand Firm with China in Anti
Summer Vacation Campaign of Caring for Children Launched
ACWF Calls on Women to Learn from Women Role Models in Anti
Possible TikTok ban revived as part of House foreign aid package
More Foreign Women's Organizations and Overseas Chinese Support China in Battle Against NCP
Woman dies after riding on car's hood and falling off, police say
ACWF Awards 10 Outstanding Women as National March 8th Red