Australian inquiry will hear evidence that Christian extremists killed 3 in an act of terrorism

An expert will tell an inquiry that three Christian extremists killed two police officers and a bystander and wounded a third police officer in an ambush on a rural Australian property in 2022 in an act of terrorism Australian inquiry will hear evidence that Christian extremists killed 3 in an act of terrorismBy ROD McGUIRKAssociated
Australian inquiry will hear evidence that Christian extremists killed 3 in an act of terrorism

An expert will tell an inquiry that three Christian extremists killed two police officers and a bystander and wounded a third police officer in an ambush on a rural Australian property in 2022 in an act of terrorism

Australian inquiry will hear evidence that Christian extremists killed 3 in an act of terrorismBy ROD McGUIRKAssociated PressThe Associated PressMELBOURNE, Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An inquiry will hear evidence that three Christian extremists who killed two police officers and a bystander and wounded a third police officer in an ambush on a rural Australian property in 2022 committed an act of terrorism aimed at intimidating state authorities, a coroner was told on Monday.

Queensland State Coroner Terry Ryan began hearing the inquiry into a siege in the sparsely populated Wieambilla region west of the state capital, Brisbane, on Dec. 12, 2022.

Brothers Gareth and Nathaniel Train and Gareth’s wife Stacey Train were killed by police hours after they fired on four police officers who attended their fortified Wieambilla property to check on Nathaniel’s welfare. Stacey had been married to Nathaniel and had two children with him before marrying his older brother.

The lawyer presenting the evidence, Ruth O’Gorman, said in her opening statement that Deakin University political sociologist Josh Roose would give evidence to the hearing that the ambush was terrorism.

“He has opined that the events of Dec. 12, 2022, constitute a terrorist act done with the intention of advancing a religious ideological cause with the aim of coercing and intimidating the Queensland government and specifically the Queensland Police Service who were viewed as public state actors and evil, demonic and as devils through this religious framework,” O’Gorman said.

The inquest was shown a video that Gareth and Stacey posted on social media from their house as police helicopters and armored vehicles surrounded them, calling on them to surrender.

The couple had directed their message to Arizona resident Donald Day Jr., who has since been charged in the United States with making threatening online comments.

“They came to kill us and we killed them,” Gareth Train said.

“If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward,” he added.

Both Gareth and Stacey told Day they would see him “at home.” O’Gorman said that appeared to be a reference to an afterlife.

The video was recorded after the trio had killed police officers Rachel McCow and Matthew Arnold and wounded Randall Kirk. A fourth officer, Keely Brough, fled into woods.

The Trains’ neighbor, Alan Dare, was also killed when he came to investigate the gunfire and smoke from a police car that the Trains had set alight.

Police had been checking on Nathaniel’s welfare after his new partner, whose name cannot be published for legal reasons, raised concerns about his health following a heart attack a year earlier.

Nathaniel and his partner were living in New South Wales state at the time. He had illegally crossed the border to visit his brother, defying COVID-19 state border restrictions. A local who helped him across the flooded border raised the alarm.

All three Trains had refused COVID-19 vaccinations, which excluded Nathaniel and Stacey from their work in government schools. Both had been school principals.

“COVID, in many ways, seems to be a trigger to some of the events that occurred,” O’Gorman said.

The inquiry is expected to last five weeks.

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
British warships and aircraft are put on standby to help evacuate UK citizens from Lebanon as fears of all-out conflict rise after Israeli assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders
Read More

British warships and aircraft are put on standby to help evacuate UK citizens from Lebanon as fears of all-out conflict rise after Israeli assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders

British warships and aircraft are on standby to help evacuate UK citizens from Lebanon as fears of all-out conflict rise after Israel assassinated Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Urgent calls grew on Sunday for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon, which would be on the front line of a regional war, as Iran and its allies readied their

Trump says North Korea, Russia ‘at the top of their game’ — but won’t ‘do anything bad to Iran’

Former President Donald Trumpwarned in an X Space that the authoritarian leaders of North Korea and Russia are “at the top of their game” during the Biden administration — but said he “won’t do anything bad to Iran” if he wins re-election in 2024. “I know [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. I know [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]. I know [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong Un,” the ex-president said during a

Maniac accused of stabbing Jewish NYC man while yelling, ‘Free Palestine!’ held on $100K bail

The maniac who allegedly shouted, “Free Palestine!” before viciously stabbing a Jewish man in the stomach Saturday has been ordered held on $100,000 cash bail on multiple hate-crime charges. Vincent Sumpter, 22, of Brooklyn was reportedly “looking for trouble” when he approached Yechiel Dabrowskin around 2 a.m. near the Chabad Headquarters in Crown Heights, yelling
Two doctors and the ‘ketamine queen’ are charged in the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry
Read More

Two doctors and the ‘ketamine queen’ are charged in the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry

A web of people motivated by greed — two doctors, a live-in-personal assistant, an acquaintance and a drug dealer known as the “ketamine queen” — conspired to provide Matthew Perry with the ketamine that caused his accidental overdose death last year, federal authorities announced Thursday. The five individuals have all been charged in connection with