The Assyrian Church of Christ the Good Shepherd, west of Sydney, was packed to capacity on Monday evening. The faithful attended a mass in memory of a deceased person celebrated by a prelate with particular charisma, the bishop of Iraqi origin Mar Mari Emmanuel.
In the middle of the service, a 15-year-old boy rushed towards the altar, a knife in his hand. The radicalized young man had time to hit the cleric in the head and injure at least three other people before the faithful rushed to tackle him to the ground. The outspokenness and muscular preaching of this religious man have earned him tens of thousands of views on YouTube, up to 25 million views on TikTok, and some 154,000 subscribers on Instagram. In this first speech since his attack, he says he "forgives" his attacker. "To the one who committed this act, I say to him, "You are my son. I love you and will always pray for you. And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive him too." The Sydney Morning Herald highlights his history as an anti-gay marriage activist. The western districts of Sydney are home, in addition to a strong Assyrian community, to most of the city's migrants and refugees. Hundreds of people invaded the streets around the church, demanding, according to several media, that the teenager be handed over to them. Clashes broke out all evening. Police said 51 officers were injured in the riots, including one hospitalized, 20 police vehicles damaged and 10 rendered unusable. The father of the attacker, saying the attacker was a Christian, said: "He is on top of everything.'” The attack deeply shook the Assyrian community.