Australian police execute search warrants as part of a 'major operation' over church stabbings

Sydney detectives investigate stabbing of bishop in church, executing search warrants in major operation with no current public threat.

Detectives and secret service agents investigating the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church executed search warrants in the city on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, as part of a major operation, officials said.

The Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes federal and state police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, said in a statement there is no current threat to public safety.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the operation was related to a knife attack in a Sydney church on April 15 in which an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest were injured.

“There is a major operation underway in Sydney,” Kershaw told the National Press Club of Australia.

“We have to make unfortunately lawful interventions to prevent any further planning or attack on our communities,” Kershaw added.

A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing the two clerics was charged on Friday with committing a terrorist act, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

An Australian Federal Court judge on Wednesday extended an order banning social media platform X from showing videos of the bishop being repeatedly stabbed.