Australia has woken to the tragic news of the end of the Martin Place siege.
Amid the horrific events, faith was restored thanks to a viral hashtag, #illridewithyou, which saw Australians offering support for Muslim Australians who were scared to ride on public transport as a result of the siege. It all started with one Facebook post from Sydney woman Rachael Jacobs who was riding on a train to Sydney when she spotted a Muslim woman quietly take off her head covering. After this, she ran after her at the train station and said, “put it back on. I’ll walk with you.”
Soon after, a woman took to Twitter and wrote, “If you reg take the bus b/w Coogee/Martin PL, wear religious attire, &don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride withyou. @me for schedule” to which another woman respond, “maybe start a hashtag? What’s in #illridewithyou?”
From there, the kind gesture quickly went viral and floods of Australians offering to protect and support the Muslim community came through social media in a response that showed the warm, inclusive and open side of our nation.
According to Twitter Australia, over 40,000 people used the hashtag within the first two hours of its creation and by 9pm it had reached a total of 90,337 tweets.
Rachael Jacobs, the woman who accidentally started the movement with her Facebook post, later took to Twitter to say she was overwhelmed by the response to her story:
Here’s what we know of the events:
Yesterday morning, after police were alerted to a man acting suspiciously around Martin Place, it was discovered at least one gunman was holding around 15 hostages inside the Lindt cafe in Martin Place.
As the day went on, police instructed workers in Martin Place to stay in their buildings, and trains and buses were stopped as roads were blocked in the area.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott released a statement saying, “I have spoken with NSW Premier Mike Baird and offered him all possible Commonwealth support and assistance. The National Security Committee of Cabinet has also convened for briefings on the situation. This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner.”
After conflicting information circled the media, with some outlets reporting there were up to 50 people being held inside the cafe, it was confirmed there were around 30 hostages. At approximately 3.40pm three men left the cafe with their hands in the air, and at around 5pm two women were seen running from the cafe.
In an attempt to keep the situation as contained as possible, Police and Prime Minister Tony Abbott advised people to go about their business as normal as work finished for the day and those working in buildings around Martin Place were instructed to stay inside their buildings. Media outlets came to an agreement with the police to withhold all information that was allegedly communicated to them through the hostages so as to ensure not to jeopardise proceedings.
At around midnight, Police identified the alleged gunman as Man Haron Monis, a man who is known to the NSW police and was last year charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and just this year was charged with more than 50 allegations of indecent and sexual assault.
At around 2.20am, hostages were seen running from the scene and police moved in and opened gunfire. Initial reports suggested at least two people were killed and three others seriously injured.
By 5.30am this morning, NSW Police commissioner Andrew Scipione confirmed three people, including the 50-year-old gunman, had died in the siege and four others, including a police officer, were seriously injured.
