Islamic State (ISIS) Supporters Discuss Responsibility For Stabbing Attack On Christian Bishop In Sydney, Australia: 'If A Muslim Did It, It Is Enough'

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here. 

On April 15, 2024, a 16-year-old boy concealing a knife entered Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney, Australia, and stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a service that was being livestreamed. Church congregants initially restrained the assailant, who has not yet been publicly identified, before police arrived at the scene and arrested him. The bishop and three others suffered injuries from the attack.

In same-day remarks to reporters, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb deemed the incident terror related, stating: "There are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism."[1] The New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team thereafter announced it would investigate the attack.[2]

Footage of the stabbing and its aftermath circulated widely on social media. In one viral video, the apprehended assailant can be heard saying in Levantine Arabic: "If [Bishop Mar Mari Immanuel] did not curse my prophet, I wouldn't have come here. If he was not interfering with religious learning, I would not have come here [...] If he was only talking about his religion, I would not have come here."[3] In another video, one of the churchgoers who restrained the perpetrator claimed that he "kept saying 'Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar' at the time of the attack."[4]

As of this reporting, no organization has claimed responsibility for the assault.

A screenshot taken from the livestream of the service, which captured the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on April 15, 2024.

ISIS Supporter: "If A Muslim Did It, It Is Enough"

ISIS supporters discussed the incident in real time. On the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat server, user "Anwar23" asked in English on April 15: "Has anyone claimed the Sydney attacks? Both the mall and bishop[.] I see the mall was not related but what about the bishop[?]"[5] The mall, which was referenced by the user, referred to an April 13 mass stabbing attack at a mall in Sydney, which killed six people.[6] That assailant, who is not Muslim, was found to be mentally ill.

In response to the inquiry, user "Unit_1" commented: "If a Muslim did it, it is enough."[7]