Sydney hostage crisis: Man Haron Monis killed after taking hostages

Here is what Muslims and Muslim organizations are expected to say: “As a Muslim, I condemn this attack and terrorism in any form.”

This expectation we place on Muslims, to be absolutely clear, is Islamophobic and bigoted. The denunciation is a form of apology: an apology for Islam and for Muslims. The implication is that every Muslim is under suspicion of being sympathetic to terrorism unless he or she explicitly says otherwise. The implication is also that any crime committed by a Muslim is the responsibility of all Muslims simply by virtue of their shared religion.

Police have raided the Sydney cafe where armed gunman Man Haron Monis had held numerous people hostage in a 16-hour crisis. The raid ended the stand-off; it is currently unclear how many people were injured or possibly killed. Here is dramatic video of the raid:

The New South Wales Police have confirmed that the hostage crisis is now over, but have not released any updates about the status of the hostages or the gunman. Emergency workers were seen evacuating several individuals who appeared to be injured, but it is not yet known who they are or whether the injuries were serious.

Police have identified the assailant who has been holding hostages in a Lindt cafe in downtown Sydney, Australia, for more than 12 hours. His name is Man Haron Monis. He is an Iranian-Australian with a violent criminal record, including charges related to his ex-wife’s murder, and he had previously achieved national infamy in Australia for sending taunting letters to the families of killed soldiers. But he has no known connection to extremist groups. Here’s what we do and don’t know about this situation.

— Monis entered the Lindt cafe on Monday morning (Sunday evening U.S. time) carrying a sawed-off shotgun and wearing a bandana inscribed with Arabic writing. He took all of the occupants hostage.

As the Sydney hostage crisis continues to unfold, thousands of Australians have joined a spontaneous movement of solidarity with the country’s Muslims.

Using the hashtag #illridewithyou, people from around the country have offered solidarity (as well as rides) to Muslim Australians who might otherwise feel uncomfortable or unsafe wearing religious garb in public. The hashtag took off, and had been tweeted more than 100,000 times within hours of its first use:

The hostage-taker in the Sydney cafe siege has been identified as the self-styled “sheikh” Man Haron Monis. Below is a screenshot of his personal website, sheikhharon.com, which went offline shortly after his name was publicized. On his site, he refers to himself as “Sheikh Harun” and accuses “America and its allies including Australia” of terrorism. “Islam wants peace on the Earth, that’s why Muslims want to stop terrorism of America and its allies,” he writes.

The full web site is preserved below. WARNING: The page contains a graphic, disturbing image of dead children. (Vox has blocked their faces.)