Are all of our Australian members safe?

[XCashier]

This article says the siege is now over: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/lindt-cafe...15-127suz.html

I do hope all the hostages are safe, and they have Man Haron Monis in custody. And I'm very glad that nobody on here was hurt.

[fireheart]

This article says the siege is now over: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/lindt-cafe...15-127suz.html

I do hope all the hostages are safe, and they have Man Haron Monis in custody. And I'm very glad that nobody on here was hurt.

Close, gunman and two other hostages are dead.

The suggested motive has been that he had been convicted of a bunch of sexual offences and his appeal had been rejected. The theory is that he opted for said siege to try and get attention and what better way to do so than to pretend you're affiliated with ISIL and take a bunch of folks hostage?

The exclusion zone is still shut down for the day. It won't affect either my partner or I as he's too far southeast and I'm nowhere near it.

[KatherineB]

Checking in late, but I'm in Melbourne as well, so safe from the crackpot. I'm with fireheart in that the portrayal of this madman as a lone individual who has been driven by what sounds like the legal net closing around him rather than being driven by religious extremism is the best thing that could happen.

[MoonCat]

I was very touched to read online today that many Australians have volunteered to accompany Muslims wherever they need to go, to head off any possible problems from people wanting to blame them for this nutjob's actions.

You rock Australia!

[fireheart]

I was very touched to read online today that many Australians have volunteered to accompany Muslims wherever they need to go, to head off any possible problems from people wanting to blame them for this nutjob's actions.

You rock Australia!

I was also very touched. I had to go to a staff meeting today at another school and I offered to accompany my Muslim coworker back. She declined, but thanked me.

[Mishi]

I am also wondering how many of our police officers are Terminator units in disguise, given that the one who copped a face wound from the shotgun blast said that he will be "back at work tomorrow".

Seriously though, that takes courage and I hope that he comes through the emotional stuff without lasting damage.

[XCashier]

I'm glad most of the hostages got out okay and the police got the creep who did this, but sad about the two who died and the others injured. Kudos to the police for their bravery and a job well done.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

I'm glad it's over, but it wasn't the best outcome. Hugs and sympathy for all the Sydney folk.

(I'm about 2000km and the Bass Strait south of there, but I have family in Sydney, one of whom is a detective. Nothing bad heard so far, she shouldn't have been involved in something like that. Still, I worry. She's my 'baby' sister.)

[Sapphire Silk]

Close, gunman and two other hostages are dead.

The suggested motive has been that he had been convicted of a bunch of sexual offences and his appeal had been rejected. The theory is that he opted for said siege to try and get attention and what better way to do so than to pretend you're affiliated with ISIL and take a bunch of folks hostage?

Well, in his warped thinking, he probably figured it was better to go out a martyr than to go out as a sex offender in prison (they are the lowest of the low in prison, and if it involved kids his odds of survival would not have been good).

[Mishi]

He's also been mentioned in the media in the past for his peaceful protests and his letters to the grieving families of soldiers, along with the 50 or so charges he was fighting in court. (Not to mention that he allegedly had a hand in killing his late wife, and was on bail for that). The Islamic community began disowning him back in 2008.

I really feel for the families of the people that were lost, and wish it could have worked out differently.

[TopEndDave]

I am about 4,000Km Northern West of Sydney (by road). The guys was a nutter and chose a good location to get publicity. The channel seven studios is across the road and could see what was happening. There was a rumour of 4 bombs being in the city but it turns out that the gunman was making the hostages send those messages out.

[Seshat]

Considerably closer if you travel by camel fart.


I'm glad it's over; not glad at all that it happened.

I, also, am proud of those members of the public who are volunteering to accompany Muslims and people who can be mistaken for them: I greatly regret that this is needed, but it's clear that the majority opinion is the sensible one. That this is a single, lone idiot, not a 'representative' of Islam.


Still safe, here. Oops, sorry, I mean 'oh no, I live in an area with a concentration of Islamic immigrants, I have to be in serious danger!' .... </sarcasm>

[TopEndDave]

Still safe, here. Oops, sorry, I mean 'oh no, I live in an area with a concentration of Islamic immigrants, I have to be in serious danger!' .... </sarcasm>

oh no, my work place has Islamic peoples working in it, I have to be in serious danger. Plus there are also peoples of other faiths like Christians and Hindus. We could have a religious war.</lots of sarcasm>

The only time religion becomes an issue at my work place is for morning teas and lunches. We have to have a large variety of different foods so no one miss out.

[fireheart]

oh no, my work place has Islamic peoples working in it, I have to be in serious danger. Plus there are also peoples of other faiths like Christians and Hindus. We could have a religious war.</lots of sarcasm>

The only time religion becomes an issue at my work place is for morning teas and lunches. We have to have a large variety of different foods so no one miss out.

Religion has only come up once or twice at work (remember I work with children). Either we will initiate a conversation about it, or the kids will do something that's relevant to their home life (ie kid 1 says grace before eating, kid 2 is confused as to why). It only really becomes an issue for food...for instance, when we did a barbecue, we had beef, chicken and vege sausages. The vege sausages were for the vegetarians/vegans, the chicken ones were for the Hindus (and anyone else who could not eat beef) while the beef ones were for everyone else.

[Gilhelmi]

I was very touched to read online today that many Australians have volunteered to accompany Muslims wherever they need to go, to head off any possible problems from people wanting to blame them for this nutjob's actions.

You rock Australia!

That is good to hear. We owe the Muslim community much. During the "Arab Spring" revolts in the Middle East, many terrorist groups targeted Christian, Catholic, and Jewish churches during our holy days. Many good Muslims though, protested the terrorists by going to the worship services saying "If our Christian and Jewish neighbors are attacked, they (the terrorists) will have to go through us first". The Muslims were unarmed (mostly) and if the churches had been attacked, they would have been murdered too. I always remember that (and remind people) whenever the subject comes up.

Stay safe my friends.