Lindt Cafe siege

Lindt Cafe siege
Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney
Map indicating the location of the incident. Martin Place is denoted in blue, towards the centre of the map.
LocationMartin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates33°52′04.6″S 151°12′40″E / 33.867944°S 151.21111°E / -33.867944; 151.21111
Date15–16 December 2014
9:44am – 2:44am (AEDT, UTC+11:00)
TargetCafe staff and customers
Attack type
Terrorism, hostage taking
WeaponsSawn-off shotgun
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)[1][2]
Injured4[3]
Victims18 hostages
PerpetratorMan Haron Monis[4][5][6]
MotiveIslamic extremism[7][8][9][10]
InquirySydney siege inquest
CoronerMagistrate Michael Barnes, NSW State Coroner
Part of a series on
Terrorism in Australia
Notable attacks
Notable plots
Counter-terrorism
Legislation

Raids

The Lindt Café siege was a terrorist attack that occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt Chocolate Café hostage in the APA Building in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia.

The Sydney siege led to a 16-hour standoff, after which a gunshot was heard from inside and police officers from the Tactical Operations Unit (TOU) stormed the café. Hostage Tori Johnson was killed by Monis and hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by a police bullet ricochet in the subsequent raid. Monis was also killed. Three other hostages and a police officer were injured by police gunfire during the raid.[1][11][12]

Police have been criticised over their handling of the siege for not taking proactive action earlier, for the deaths of hostages at the end of the siege, and for the lack of negotiation during the siege. Hostage Marcia Mikhael called radio station 2GB during the siege and said, "They have not negotiated, they've done nothing. They have left us here to die."[13][14]

Early on, hostages were seen holding a Jihadist flag against the window of the café, featuring the shahādah creed.[15][16] Initially, many media organisations mistook it for the flag used by the Islamic State (IS); Monis later demanded that an IS flag be brought to him.[9][16][17] Monis also unsuccessfully demanded to speak to the Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, live on radio. Monis was described by Abbott as having indicated a "political motivation,"[9][10] but the eventual assessment was that the gunman was "a very unusual case—a rare mix of extremism, mental health problems and plain criminality."[18]

In the aftermath of the siege, Muslim groups issued a joint statement in which they condemned the incident,[19] and memorial services were held in the city at the nearby St Mary's Cathedral and St James' Church.[20] Condolence books were set up in other Lindt cafés and the community turned Martin Place into a "field of flowers."[21] The Martin Place Lindt café was severely damaged during the police raid, closed afterwards, then renovated for reopening in March 2015.[22][23]

  1. ^ a b "Martin Place transformed as city pays tribute". Yahoo!7 News. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference smh-127suz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Martin Place siege – victim update" (Press release). Sydney: New South Wales Police Force. 16 December 2014. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  4. ^ "LIVE STREAM: Sydney siege hostages 'huddled at one end of café'". 9news.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  5. ^ Ralston, Nick. "Martin Place, Sydney siege gunman identified as Man Haron Monis". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  6. ^ Knowles, Lorna (16 December 2014). "Sydney siege: Man behind siege named as Iranian cleric Man Haron Monis". ABC News. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  7. ^ Hall, Louise; Bibby, Paul (16 December 2014). "Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis was on bail for 40 sexual assault charges and accessory to murder". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Tony Abbott hails response to Australia's 'brush with terrorism'". Financial Times. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b c Booth, Andrea (15 December 2014). "Police say they are in contact with gunman holding hostages in Sydney, Australia". news. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  10. ^ a b Griffiths, Emma (15 December 2014). "Sydney siege: Prime Minister Tony Abbott says gunman is 'claiming political motivation'". ABC News. ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  11. ^ Ensor, Josie; Pearlman, Jonathan (15 December 2014). "Victims of Sydney siege hailed as heroes after they die protecting hostages". The Telegraph (UK). London. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  12. ^ Box, Dan (29 January 2015). "Sydney siege inquest: Lindt Cafe deaths investigated". The Australian. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Sydney siege inquest hears Tori Johnson's execution was prompted by hostage escape". Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  14. ^ "Lindt cafe siege inquest: Hostage Marcia Mikhael accuses police of lying".
  15. ^ Fallon, Daniel (15 December 2014). "Lindt Chocolate Cafe Hostage Drama in Martin Place Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Seven in 'lockdown' due to hostage crisis". news.com.au. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  17. ^ Morsi, Yassir (17 December 2014). "Before he flew the black flag, Monis was just a desperate man with a violent past". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  18. ^ Kenny, Mark (23 February 2015). "Sydney siege report: Biggest question left unanswered in review". No. The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  19. ^ Franklin, Daniel (15 December 2014). "Live blog: Siege in Sydney's Martin Place". ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  20. ^ Head, Ivan (19 December 2014). "St James' Memorial Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson" (PDF). St James' Church, Sydney. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  21. ^ Kembrey, Melanie (17 December 2014). "Sydney siege aftermath: memorial at Martin Place continues to grow". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  22. ^ Visentin, Lisa (12 February 2015). "Lindt cafe to reopen in March following Sydney siege tragedy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  23. ^ Olding, Rachel (17 March 2015). "Sydney siege aftermath: Lindt Cafe to reopen this Friday". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.