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Australia Church Stabbing
Police patrol outside the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Sydney clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says

A Muslim community leader in Australia says the father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics saw no signs of his son’s extremism

By MARK BAKER and ROD McGUIRK
Published - Apr 17, 2024, 03:11 AM ET
Last Updated - Apr 17, 2024, 03:11 AM EDT

SYDNEY (AP) — The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police prepared to file charges against rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.

The 16-year-old boy spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Rev. Isaac Royel during a church service on Monday night that was being streamed online. Neither cleric sustained life-threatening injuries.

The Orthodox Assyrian congregation overpowered the boy and he remained in an undisclosed hospital on Wednesday under police guard. He sustained severe hand wounds in the struggle.

Lebanese Muslim Association secretary Gamel Kheir, an advocate for Sydney’s largest Muslim community, said he spent two hours with the boy’s distraught father at the family home soon after the attack. The family has since left their home for fear of retaliation.

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