The Squiz

NSW Police have been given extraordinary powers after a terror attack inside a south-western Sydney church left a bishop with serious stab wounds and triggered violent scenes outside. The National Security Committee of Cabinet has met in the wake of the attack in Wakeley, while NSW Premier Chris Minns called for calm after the second major stabbing incident within a couple of days.

So what happened?

The 53yo Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was giving a sermon in Christ The Good Shepherd Church – which was being livestreamed – when a 16yo lunged at him with a knife. A priest at the Assyrian church (which is a conservative Christian denomination), Father Isaac Royel, was also injured and taken to hospital, as was a worshipper who’d attempted to restrain the attacker. Police Commissioner Karen Webb said an “uncontrolled” crowd then gathered – they attacked officers, damaged 20 police cars, and blocked paramedics from getting to the injured people inside. PM Anthony Albanese said it was “understandable” people were on edge after the Bondi “atrocity”, but “people should not take the law into their own hands”.

So why is this being called a terrorist incident?

Commissioner Webb says she’s satisfied the incident was “religious motivated extremism“ and that the attacker was aiming for “intimidation of the public” because it was being livestreamed. ASIO boss Mike Burgess says while it’s likely the attacker was acting alone, the security agency will look at anyone connected to him “to assure ourselves there’s no one else in the community with similar intent.” The teenager was “known to police” after being arrested for a knife crime in January. Webb’s also warned rioters they should expect to be prosecuted – while religious leaders of all faiths have called for unity and said the “horrifying” attacks have “no place in Australia”.