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Australian Police Killings Deemed Terror Attack, Linked to ‘Christian Extremism’

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Australian Police Killings Deemed Terror Attack, Linked to ‘Christian Extremism’
A supplied undated combined image obtained Dec.13, 2022 shows Constable Matthew Arnold (left) and Constable Rachel McCrow who were killed in an ambush at a remote Queensland property in Australia. Police have shot dead three people at a remote property on Queensland's Darling Downs after an ambush in which two officers and a bystander were killed. AAP Image/Supplied by Queensland Police
Daniel Y. Teng
By Daniel Y. Teng
2/16/2023Updated: 2/16/2023

The siege that claimed the lives of two police officers and an innocent bystander has been deemed a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack” by Queensland Police.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford said the force combed through 190 statements and the lives of the Train family, with police concluding that the trio subscribed to the “Christian extremist ideology” while also conceding that they radicalised themselves in isolation.

“Nathaniel, Gareth, and Stacey Train acted as an autonomous cell and executed a religiously-motivated terrorist attack,” Linford told reporters on Feb. 16.

“The Train family members subscribe to what we would call a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as pre-millennialism—it’s a belief system that comes from Christian theology,” she said.

“Christian extremist ideology has been linked to other attacks around the world, but this is the first time we’ve seen it appear in Australia.”

Linford noted there was a range of factors that contributed to the Trains’ turn to radicalism, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, social disparity and global conflicts.

In particular, she noted the loss of Nathaniel and Stacey’s jobs—as a principal in Walgett primary school in the state of New South Wales and head of curriculum at a school in Tara in Queensland—because they did not get the COVID-19 vaccine led to anti-government sentiment.

“They certainly had their views around anti-vaccination, and as a consequence of that, anti-government,” she said.

She also said that the Trains subscribed to parts of the sovereign citizen movement but, at the same time, could not be classified as falling under this category.

“Whilst the behaviour was similar in some respect to sovereign citizens, we don’t believe this was connected to a sovereign citizen ideology,” she said.

Lyle Shelton, former head of the Australian Christian Lobby and now-upper house candidate for New South Wales, warned against smearing all Christians because of the actions of a few.

“I’m not a ‘pre-millenialist’ but millions of Australian Christian believers are,” he told The Epoch Times in an email. “To link what the police call an ‘autonomous cell’ operating independently of any Christian group to Christianity is quite offensive.”

“There is nothing in Christianity that justifies the murder of police or anyone for that matter.”

Police Working With US Authorities

The Deputy Commissioner said police do not believe any other people were locally involved in planning or participating in the attack.

“There is absolutely no evidence at this time that there is anyone else in Australia that participated or assisted in this attack,” she said.

But she noted that Australian police were working with the FBI in the United States over individuals—including a U.S. citizen named Don—who were found to have posted videos online before and after the attack referring to the Trains.

Queensland Police were assisted by the Australian Federal Police, as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, in their investigations.

Siege in the Outback

At around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, four police officers were called to investigate a routine missing person report for Nathaniel Train at a property on Wains Rd in Wieambilla, near the remote inland Queensland town of Chinchilla.

Two young constables, Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were hit with a “hail of gunshots” as they jumped a fence to access the house, according to Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers.

The pair fell, forcing their colleagues to take cover, with one (Keely Brough) fleeing into the bushes around the property and the other (Randall Kirk) towards the squad car.

Tributes for the officers killed in the siege are seen at Tara Police Station in Tara, Queensland, Australia, on Dec. 14, 2022. (AAP Image/Jason O’Brien)
Tributes for the officers killed in the siege are seen at Tara Police Station in Tara, Queensland, Australia, on Dec. 14, 2022. AAP Image/Jason O’Brien

A neighbour, 58-year-old Alan Dare, was also gunned down and shot in the back after going out to investigate.

A siege later ensued, resulting in the deaths of the three shooters.

READ MORE
  • Australian Minister Urges Caution in Speculating on Police Killers’ Motives

Linford said the investigations had led the police to believe the three assailants were very well prepared for attack wearing camouflaged clothing, erected barriers, and preparing a range of weaponry, including six firearms, compound bows and arrows, as well as knives.

We don’t believe this attack was random or spontaneous,” Deputy Police Commissioner Linford said.

“We do believe it was an attack directed at police.

“There was significant evidence of advanced preparation and planning.”

‘Lone Wolf’ Actors Still A Problem

The head of Australia’s domestic spy agency, ASIO, Director-General Mike Burgess, recently said the agency’s caseload was taken up largely by “religiously motivated extremists,” noting that those linked with Sunni Islam were the “principal concern in the terrorism space.”

Burgess noted that the biggest threat now was radicalised individuals who would resort to violence with little to no warning.

“They’re acting on their own because something has set them off, including maybe the group they’re in isn’t satisfying their need to do what they believe it is they should do,” he said.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess preparing for his annual speech at ASIO headquarters in Canberra, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess preparing for his annual speech at ASIO headquarters in Canberra, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Spy Agency Says Threat Levels Dropping

The announcement comes after Burgess noted that Australia had seen a reduction in the threat levels of violent extremism, which he said had dropped by 20 percent since the federal government and state governments rolled back  COVID lockdowns and restrictions.

“It is true; there are less people in this country who want to conduct active violence in the name of their cause,” said Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

“The volatility has reduced. In particular, around COVID. So, there is less angst these days as we’re not subject to mandates,” he told a Senate Estimates hearing.

According to ASIO, right-wing extremism accounted for 50 percent of the agency’s caseload but dropped to 30 percent since lockdowns and mandates eased.

Daniel Y. Teng
Daniel Y. Teng
Writer
Daniel Y. Teng is based in Brisbane, Australia. He focuses on national affairs, including federal politics and Australia-China relations. Got a tip? Contact him at [email protected].
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Related Topics
Queensland
Australia terrorism
Wieambilla
Queensland police
Christian extremism
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