Australian police have charged a 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing a bishop and a priest with a terrorism offense. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment.
A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two clerics during a church service in the eastern Australian city of Sydney has been charged with committing a terrorist offense.
The boy, who is in hospital after treatment for injuries, spoke about the Prophet Muhammad having been insulted after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Reverend Isaac Royel at an Assyrian Orthodox service on Monday.
The charge of terrorism means police will gain more powers to investigate whether the suspect acted alone or as part of a wider network.
The boy’s family has previously said he had perhaps displayed “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse” in the past but had shown no signs of being radicalized.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two clerics during a church service in the eastern Australian city of Sydney has been charged with committing a terrorist offense.
The boy, who is in hospital after treatment for injuries, spoke about the Prophet Muhammad having been insulted after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Reverend Isaac Royel at an Assyrian Orthodox service on Monday.
The boy’s family has previously said he had perhaps displayed “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse” in the past but had shown no signs of being radicalized.
“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.
Authorities said the attack was declared a terrorist act because of the teenager’s suspected religious motivation and because he undertook a trip of some 90 minutes from his home to the church.
Monday’s incident came on the heels of another stabbing attack in Sydney on Saturday in which a man killed six people in a busy shopping mall before being shot dead by a police officer.
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