Hostage situation in Sydney

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30474089

Started about 2 hours ago I think - couldn't find a properly timestamped news story to confirm that.

Also, suspicious package at the Opera House.

Given the flag with Arabic writing, please take the PWEC to where it belongs.

Religion of Peace in action.

Started about 5-6 hours ago and good luck keeping this out of the PWEC. There is already a thread there.

It began at 0945 local time.

Thanks, Dart! PWEC!

Religion of terrorism events/topics = PWEC

Not everyone wants to read the hate and as of the time of my OP it wasn't considered a terrorist event. If it has been since then go ahead & delete or lock this thread.

I don't look at PWEC a lot (and only when I'm going through the Active Topics search thingy) so I didn't notice the wonderfully titled thread over there.

the article/event itself is an example of hate ..... so you're saying it's ok to have the hate here ?

From what I read on that link at the time of my post there was no conclusive evidence that it was a hate crime (most likely it is but since they hadn't talked to the hostage taker yet maybe the guy was just generically crazy and not a religious zealot of some kind).

How is the article itself an example of hate? Please point out specific excerpts as I must be blind.

Also, I did not say it's OK to have hate speech anywhere and in retrospect perhaps I should have used the word inflammatory or a term like emotionally charged instead of hate.

My point is that sometimes I just want to know the facts without the emotional content - it makes for faster reading.

"People inside the cafe have been seen holding up a black flag with Arabic writing at the window" ...... under the threat of some weapon likely

yep ..... looks like some kind of hate to me and its controversial .....this has PWEC written all over it

I'll bet you a 6 pack beer it gets moved to PWEC

What does it translate to? I haven't seen a translation of it.

translated it means ...."please help ....we belong in Community Hall and not with this guy"

LOL and thank you for making my point - it's all assumption. It's most likely right but still assumption.

Edit 1: Oh, and nice edit on your earlier post. Next time I'll be sure to do a quote

Edit 2: And no I won't take the bet - Dart's post already swings the odds in your favor

It's a shahada flag which reads "There is no god but allah and mohammed is his prophet." It's also referred to as the black standard because of it's use by various jihadi groups. So while it's not an ISIS/ISIL/IS flag it's still used by islamic militants around the world.

Thanks.

Just out of curiosity, is it only used by militants? If I remember I'll ask my Iraqi friend about it.

Nope, it's not.
Every convert and Muslim will recite it. Nothing negative about it.
It's been hijacked by the mad bearded ones unfortunately, and everybody else sort of concluded it's all bad news.
Probably is bad news in this particular case.

Cheers,
Slug

Thanks and agreed on the last point.

Latest I read from the BBC was that the gunman had requested being given an ISIS flag. Apparently he'd thought that one was an ISIS flag, only to read media reports that it wasn't once he'd started. Way to go...

Every house needs a garbage can.

Oh look, it's another PWEC complaint thread.

Yawn.

Before you all go and get PWEC-fide..

At present it is being treated as a 'Hostage Situation', not-withstanding a possibility of terrorism.
All the facts are being kept close to the heart by authorities but the gunman is known to Police.

Hostage situations occur all over the globe constantly.
Whichever the case to be, it certainly has utilised a huge amount of resources that could better be use elsewhere.
But this is most probably the main objective anyway I guess with these type of people.

I don't know...

as soon as "that" standard was raised, it pretty much summed up what the situation is all about...
Media should have been locked down to remove the oxygen - now that is has gone worldwide, it will only embolden others (apparently, another situation has arisen in Belgium)

For insurance reasons, it has to be treated as a simple "hostage" situation, 'cause as soon as it is declared an act of terrorism or war/ invasion etc, the insurance companies don't have to pay out, also to manage any acts retribution

Bah! They can do anything they like today here in Belgium, all the "civil servants/state workers" are on strike. But not head about any hostage situation... will check it out.

Edit: At least the F16s are still flying so that is keeping me entertained

Edit2: Looks like it was to do with drugs, it is in Ghent which is the other side of the country from me. Anyway those involved gave themselves up and are in custody now.

Looks like some classy mustachioed British fellows in threatening SAS garb need to drop by and pop some heads.





Oh, and I heartily lol at the PWEC complaints. Seriously, get over it people. I've read a hundred times more garbage in the BoS and CloD forums than I ever have in PWEC.

"“The situation here is one of creepiness. A lot of people have come to watch the hostage situation. Some people are bringing beers and taking selfies.”

Sounds like your standard run of the mill moron on the street then, that's not specific to Sydney. Too many people live in a dazed dream, they have no concept of reality.

Well here's hoping it's the kind of crime that doesn't involve hate. You know, the loving kind of crime where the nice man takes hostages because he likes the people there.

It will all be over soon, this lone gunman can`t stay awake forever and not F-up.

What else could we expect from the Religion of Peace. He's releasing certain hostages. I hope NOBODY dies.

Saying on the news here that the hostage taker is known to police for sexual assault crimes.

Lots more "info" on the whacko here:

Yahoo News

I think the person who invented the term "hate crime" deserves a flogging. It's the most retarded notion ever conceived.
Is it somehow better if the perpetrator is indifferent to the victim? If it's totally random instead of targeted? If they do it because they think it will make the world better instead of merely satisfying themselves?

If you kill someone who was not trying to kill you, making it self defense, it's the height of stupidity to make it matter MORE depending on the race, ethnicity, religion, financial situation, affiliation, nationality, or opinion on sporting team XYZ of the respective parties!

"Why did you kill that man?"
"Does it matter?"
"Well, if you did it because he's a Jew and you hate Jews, it's worse. If you did it because he's white and you're Polynesian, it's worse. If you did it because he was driving a Mercedes, it's worse. If you did it because you just had a bad day and felt like killing any old person, it's better."
"Yeah, ok, that."



The Jedi Master

The police in Sydney apparently just stormed the cafe. So far some hostages seem to have been freed, one woman was allegedly injured.

No news so far about what happened to that whacko.

Well we should be hearing of news soon then, those things tend to go pretty quickly.

Best of luck to the police and hostages. The gunman, well, if insides happen to become outsides oh well

Its over.

Also thinking about a liberal application of the famous 9mm negotiation tool?

One can hope. I'm a big fan of meeting terrorism with extreme violence if it can be done without innocent life being lost.

The news mentioned he's "not an Islamic terrorist or extremist"... Wonder how long the wake-up call is going to take for people. I guess if I go take hostages at GM's HQ and request a terrorist flag it's just minor workplace violence

I fail to understand the reason why some media outlets are so desperately trying to avoid using the "I-word". I mean, that whacko was not beating around the bush about his allegiance, was he? Hard to miss even for the most stoic denier of the fact that there's an enhanced affinity towards terrorism in the radical Islamist camp.

I'm not sure either. If it was the IRA I'd imagine the big old T word would be flung left and right.

Two dead, three injured supposedly... the video I saw of the storming showed a LOT of bullets from the police (not the expected double-tap for a single nutter).

They also threw in at least 4 flashbangs before going in (as seen in the video on BBC). I wonder if there were really more than one hostage taker.

Apparently the perpetrator opened fire first, which triggered that police response. Two dead, one being a hostage, the other the gunman. Two people (one being a police officer) had to be revitalized.

All of the above according to the news coming in. So it might still all be wrong.

It's at least two distinctive shot salvos in the vid. So either the guy was moving/shooting back, or there was more than one. A "suprise" takedown should have looked differently IMHO...

http://mashable.com/2014/12/14/uber-sydney-surge-pricing



Flee for your lives... if you can afford it.

PS: After this news came out Uber backtracked and said it started to give free rides for anyone in the area.

"The self-styled Muslim cleric who was killed after holding hostages at a Sydney cafe had pleaded guilty to writing offensive letters to the families of Australian troops"

Sorry Haggart, but just to add to this ... These letters were to the families of Defence Personel of which were KIA in Afganastan.



Cheers

Nice guy. Got what he earned (a little too painlessly though). Shame others got hurt.