Sydney Hostage Situation

situation breaking via BBC News

Quote :

At least one gunman has taken several people hostage at a cafe in the Australian city of Sydney.

Pictures on Australian television show at least three people with their hands up against a window, and a black flag with Arabic writing.

Hundreds of armed police have sealed off Martin Place in Sydney's central business district.

New South Wales police have asked people to avoid the area.

An Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter said that gunfire had been heard at the scene, the Lindt chocolate cafe - but this has not been confirmed.

Major landmarks in the city such as the Sydney Opera House have been evacuated.

Local media report that the airspace over Sydney's central business district has been closed.

local media, according to an eyewitness, describing it as a terrorist situation.

Nobody is really sure what it is. Early reports suggested the flag in question was an ISIL flag, but it has since been confirmed that it is a declaration of faith. The police are still cordoning off the area, and for the most part, they seem to be treating it as a hostage situation.

Five hostages have escaped thus far. Fervently hope all the others make it through this.

The fucker is demanding an ISIS flag and a phone call to Tony Abbott. He needs a kiss on the forehead from a sniper before he does something horrific.

Thus turning him into a martyr for his cause, which will be seized upon by IS. At this point, it's looking like he is an unaffiliated sympathiser trying to make the connection to IS. Killing him will only legitimise him in the eyes of IS.

It's either a bullet or a good behaviour bond from a left-wing judge. Martyr the martyrfucker away.

Such is the problem with Australian conservatives - you assume that there are only two solutions depending on political alignment, that each is extreme as the other, and that the conservative solution is the better by default because the progressive solution is ludicrous.

How about the police focus on getting everybody out alive and take the gunman into custody before deciding what to do with him?

Honestly, I don't think he plans on getting out of this alive. This isn't some slob holding up a McDonalds because his fries were cold and his wife is fucking his brother.

Hope everyone gets out safely. An armed ISIL wannabe probably isn't the best type of nut to be dealing with.

Apparently Aussies have been gathering in front of the building as if it's a carnival, taking selfies and downing beers. Oh dear. The world is turning into a parody of itself.

Don't recall hearing that but that's probably because by the time I heard the news, the press is as close to the scene as they can get, and it's at least a few blocks away.

Pretty scary stuff at the moment...

They just stormed.

Two hostages dead. Sniper had eyes on him throughout and yet was prevented from taking the target out even after witnessing the first hostage being shot.

The fucker was out on bail (charged with being an accessory to murder and dozens of sexual assault charges).

I am so fucking livid at the country's political and judicial elites today.

CJB wrote:

I am so fucking livid at the country's political and judicial elites today.

It's probably what pushed him over the edge. He fled Iran in the 1990s when his liberal view of Islam got him in trouble with the authorities. Twenty years later, he tried to get a judge to hand over documents that he was convinced ASIO had on him. The judge refused. There might have been a gap of two decades, but he made the connection pretty quickly, accusing ASIO and the Iranians of conspiring to lock him up.

That was a year ago, but it seems he didn't drop the issue. The anti-terror legislation introduced recently probably reconfirmed his belief that he was being targeted. Most likely there was something in the past few days that set this whole thing in motion, but this is exactly what the community was afraid of in September - a heavy-handed response from the government inspiring radicalisation.

And it probably didn't help that it happened across from Channel Seven. They have always been more interested in getting a story first than in getting it right. They're the ones who shouted "terrorist" first.

So arresting people who are planning terror attacks is "heavy handed" and we need to appease and appease and appease some more.

I can't deal with your shit today. Your side of politcs is demented and needs to beg for forgiveness.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

CJB wrote:

I am so fucking livid at the country's political and judicial elites today.

It's probably what pushed him over the edge.

Australia granting Man Haron Monis asylum is what pushed him over the edge? Hmmm.

CJB wrote:

Two hostages dead. Sniper had eyes on him throughout and yet was prevented from taking the target out even after witnessing the first hostage being shot.

The fucker was out on bail (charged with being an accessory to murder and dozens of sexual assault charges).

I am so fucking livid at the country's political and judicial elites today.

Has this been confirmed? Why would they choose to do that after he uses deadly force on one of his hostages?

CJB wrote:

So arresting people who are planning terror attacks is "heavy handed" and we need to appease and appease and appease some more.

No, but tipping the media to an imminent raid so that they can capture video of the raid is. So too is having the older rich white conservative politician - Brandis - draft legislation that he knows will affect a segment of the population without actually consulting that segment of the population first.

I shouldn't be surprised, though. This is the government that accused the president of a nuclear-armed sovereign state of actively participating in a terrorist attack on foreign soil without any evidence with one breath, and then with the next breath called for a full and impartial investigation into MH17.

I forgot that you're easily amused by trained apes. After all, you voted for them.

But yes, my side of politics is demented. We believe that we can prevent this sort of thing from happening in advance by figuring out what the problem is and addressing it before it can fester. I know, that's absolutely crazy, but there you go.

Take IS for example. They work like a street gang - they identify people (usually youth) who feel marginalised by a society that expects them to abandon their culture and get along to go along. IS tell them that all of this is true, and then seduce them with promises of power and identity and the creation of a state where they can practice freely. My solution to the problem is to recognise this and work towards closing the gap between at-risk youth and mainstream society, much like you would with fighting a street gang.

Your solution, on the other hand, is to lock up anyone who looks like they might drive down property values, and then call for blood when the inevitable happens.

Fuck off, you communist cunt. Go get your clit hacked off.

How is it possible that Monis was out on bail as an accessory to murder, not to mention facing 40 sexual and indecent assault charges? What sort of country are you running out there?

Erica Ambler wrote:

How is it possible that Monis was out on bail as an accessory to murder, not to mention facing 40 sexual and indecent assault charges? What sort of country are you running out there?

One where this is deemed an appropriate reaction to someone with a different political opinion:

CJB wrote:

Fuck off, you communist cunt. Go get your clit hacked off

Guys, take some deep breaths, look at the ass to the left, and calm down.

Well yes, I found the reference to FGM a bit distasteful myself.

CJB is clearly upset, but I'm a bit bemused by Monkey's defence of this guy as well. All I know is what's been reported in the papers over here, but none of it sounds good, particularly this bit:

Quote :

Monis was charged last year with being an accessory to the murder of his 30-year-old former wife Noleen Hayson Pal, a mother-of-two who was allegedly stabbed to death and set alight in April 2013.

He reads as pure scum, plain and simple.
Your question is the most relevant one: how was such a man walking around freely?

Sadly, it is a common theme with violent criminals over here as well, nearly all of them have prior convictions for similar crimes, yet they tend to serve only short sentences (if that).

Man Haron Monis' lawyer is blaming a "weak prosecuting case" as to why he was out on bail. Well, now he can sleep at night.