Location | Martin Place, Hyde Park, Pitt Street Mall Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
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Date | 15 September 2012 |
Injured | 19 protesters injured 6 police injured [1] |
Charges | 8 arrested |
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On 15 September 2012, a protest against the anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims was held in Sydney, New South Wales. While the protest started peacefully, violent confrontations between police and protesters began when protesters reached the United States Consulate General. [2] In resulting clashes, six police officers and 19 protesters were injured. The violence was condemned by Australian political leaders, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Police arrested nine protesters in connection with the violence. [2]
The protest, through Pitt Street pedestrian mall and Martin Place, temporarily shut down parts of the city, instilling fear in members of the public (interviewed by live television crews), and was later brought under control by police.
The protest started at about midday when approximately 100 people gathered at the Sydney Town Hall before marching along George Street to Martin Place where the US Consulate is located. Conflict between the protesters and the police started when the former tried to enter the US Consulate. [1] The police used capsicum spray to push the protesters back from the consulate. According to one protester this aggravated the crowd, as many had brought their children. [3]
The crowd then moved to Hyde Park, where around 300 people had gathered. [3] Further clashes erupted as police used capsicum spray on protesters who at times threw bottles at police. [4] Protesters chanted "Down, down USA" [1] and carried Sunni Islamist flags and signs saying, "Behead all those who insult the prophet", "Our dead are in paradise, your dead are in hell", "Shariah will dominate the world", and "Obama Obama, we love Osama" and threw bottles and objects retrieved from construction sites at police officers. The police responded by spraying capsicum spray into the crowd. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Six police officers were injured of which two were hospitalized. [11]
As the crowd started to leave Hyde Park near St James, Public Order and Riot Squad officers equipped with batons and riot shields had already been stationed at the park exit. [12] Protestors continued to throw stones, sticks and bottles at the police. Riot and mounted police pursued protesters down William Street towards Kings Cross. The already splintered crowd then broke up further, running through the back streets of Darlinghurst [12] with police chasing after them. [13]
Police blocked several CBD streets, including the intersection of Martin Place and Castlereagh Street, parts of George Street and Market Street while protestors attempted to move through the city.
Nine men were arrested. [14] Police continued to investigate the event using photographs published by news networks to identify people who attended the protest, stating that not all those caught on camera were guilty of offences, but might be able to help identify those who had acted violently. [15] [16] The Counter Terrorism Squad reported that they had identified a number of men known to have criminal convictions, although not necessarily linked to terrorist groups. [16] Mohammed Issai Issaka was convicted for riot and assaulting police, and after losing an appeal, was jailed in April 2014. [17] Others received suspended sentences for affray and resisting arrest, [18] fines or good behaviour bonds [19] [20] for offenses ranging from assault, damaging property, [21] to offensive language.
The Australian reported that several of the protestors were carrying the black flags of an organisation described as al-Qa'ida sympathisers. [15] An unnamed Muslim leader was quoted in the paper as saying that the protest had been hijacked by a group known as "Sixth Pillar", the name being a reference to the "Five Pillars of Islam" with jihad being claimed by some to be the "sixth pillar of Islam". [15] The group may be linked to the controversial Sydney Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. [15]
The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, condemned the violence saying, "Violent protest is never acceptable – not today, not ever." The Premier of New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell, condemned the violence and promised to hold the perpetrators accountable, and that he was "delighted there has been such a strong statement by Islamic leaders and scholars". [22] The Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, also condemned the use of violence and called on the perpetrators to be prosecuted. [23]
Leaders of 25 Muslim organisations met on the Monday night and said that the protests over the film were "unacceptable and un-Islamic", and that they did not support even peaceful protest. [24] The Board of Imams Victoria met on 17 September to discuss strategies to prevent riots in Melbourne. [25] The President of the Australian National Imams Council emphasised the importance of correct education of the younger generation. The plan of the Board of Imams Victoria was that the same message of peace should be preached across Australia on Friday 21 September with parents being urged to stay at home with their children after Friday prayers. [25] Sheik Azeim urged all young Muslims in Australia to remember that they are Australians first, and that facilities such as schools, hospitals and the social security organisation Centrelink did not question whether they were Muslim. [25]
An ABC Four Corners investigation "Plan of Attack" found that some leaders of the protest and prayers were involved in terrorist recruitment for ISIS and local planned terrorist operations. [26] Among those involved with terrorist links were Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar. [27]
Islam in Australia is a minority religious affiliation. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the combined number of people who self-identified as Muslims in Australia, from all forms of Islam, constituted 813,392 people, or 3.2% of the total Australian population. That total Muslim population makes Islam, in all its denominations and sects, the second largest religious grouping in Australia, after all denominations of Christianity.
The Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS) is an Islamist group based in New York City that seeks the goal of restoring the Islamic Caliphate to create what it calls "an ideal Islamic society". Its members are located mainly in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, United States. The ITS is an offshoot of Al-Muhajiroun, a pro Al-Qaeda British Islamic extremist group.
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The Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS) is the full-time riot squad of the New South Wales Police Force. PORS reports via the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command to the Deputy Commissioner Investigations and Counter Terrorism.
Terrorism in Australia deals with terrorist acts in Australia as well as steps taken by the Australian government to counter the threat of terrorism. In 2004 the Australian government has identified transnational terrorism as also a threat to Australia and to Australian citizens overseas. Australia has experienced acts of modern terrorism since the 1960s, while the federal parliament, since the 1970s, has enacted legislation seeking to target terrorism.
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Occupy Sydney was a social movement and protest as part of the global Occupy movements, in Sydney, Australia. The occupation began on 15 October 2011 outside the Reserve Bank of Australia in Martin Place. The Martin Place occupation was first evicted by NSW Police on 23 October 2011. This eviction and later police action was named Operation Goulding. Another eviction attempt occurred on 2 February 2012. The protest site was removed five times in early July 2013, only to re-establish itself each time within hours.
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Operations Support Group (OSG) police are specialist police within the New South Wales Police Force. They are trained in public order (riot) response; weaponless control ; violent prisoner cell extractions; high-value asset protection; navigation and terrain search; bomb searching; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response.
Innocence of Muslims is an anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, under the titles "The Real Life of Muhammad" and "Muhammad Movie Trailer". Videos dubbed in Arabic were uploaded during early September 2012. Anti-Islamic content had been added in post-production by dubbing, without the actors' knowledge.
The release of the anti-Islamic short film Innocence of Muslims triggered numerous demonstrations across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. On September 11, 2012, dozens of protestors scaled the walls and entered the courtyard of the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt. On September 13, 2012 protests occurred at the U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, resulting in the deaths of four protesters and injuries to thirty-five protesters and guards. On September 14, the U.S. consulate in Chennai was attacked, resulting in injuries to twenty-five protesters. Protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, climbed the U.S. embassy walls and set trees on fire. At least four people were killed and forty-six injured during protests in Tunis on September 15. Further protests were held at U.S. diplomatic missions and other locations in the days following the initial attacks. Related protests and attacks resulted in numerous deaths and injuries across the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
This article covers the chronology of the reactions to Innocence of Muslims. The uploading of the Innocence of Muslims films trailer resulted in protests, deaths and hundreds of injuries in several cities in the world.
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