Sydney church shooting: Sonny Bill Williams sends message to bishop attacked during service as riots break out

Sonny Bill Williams says he is ‘praying’ for a Sydney bishop who was stabbed on Monday night as Australia reels from a second horrific attack in a matter of days.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in Sydney’s west on Monday just after 7pm when a man dressed in a dark hoodie walked up to the altar and stabbed him several times.

Terrifying footage of the incident, which was broadcast live on the church’s YouTube page, shows Bishop Emmanuel looking up stunned as the attacker suddenly rains blows on his face and head.

That footage quickly circulated on social media, with former All Blacks star Williams, 38, sharing it from Andrew Tate’s X account with a message for Bishop Emmanuel.

“Praying for his full recovery,” he wrote with an open palm emoji.

The horror incident sparked unrest outside the church as hundreds gathered in protest, hurling bottles and bricks at a hastily erected police barrier as chants of ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘get him out’ could be heard.

Footage immediately after the attack has emerged of the alleged attacker being pinned down on his front by at least three people, including a police officer, as he smiles and appears to taunt his captors.

A man, with blood visible on his jeans, sits with his legs straddled over the suspected attacker’s head.

‘People pray and you come and (allegedly) do this?’, the man says, lightly slapping him on the cheek.

The police officer interjects: ‘Stop, just let go, please. You’re going to make it worse.’

But then the man holding the camera pulls the other man’s leg away to reveal the face of the suspected attacker.

He smiles and appears to be laughing as the man holding the camera says ‘you’re an idiot, you have to deal with it’.

The alleged attacker then appears to say: ‘Do you think they’re going to hurt my brother?’ as the police officers try to lead the men away.

The situation outside the church and in the surrounding streets remains tense with the New South Wales Public Order Riot Squad deployed to the scene.

“A large police operation is underway and the public is being urged to avoid the area,” a spokesman said.

NSW Ambulance said four people were injured in the incident and had been taken to hospital.

After the stabbing, groups of outnumbered police huddled together as bottles and bricks were thrown at them.

Some in the crowd cheered as car windows were smashed.

Footage on social media appeared to show a ladder being used to smash a window in the church.

Police attempted to hold a perimeter in nearby Welcome Park, but were breached on a number of occasions by rioters running towards the church.

They then deployed tear gas to allow their officers to move out of the area.

Some of those gathered could be heard shouting ‘they are attacking us with gas’.

It comes just 48 hours after six people were murdered in Westfield Bondi Junction by a crazed knifeman.

Joel Cauchi, 40, stabbed five women and a male security guard to death and wounded several others before being shot dead by a police officer.

A NSW Police spokesman said Bishop Emmanuel suffered “non-life threatening injuries”.

“Officers arrested a man and he is assisting police with enquiries,” the spokesman added.

TheWSTNews Australia approached NSW Ambulance for comment.

Bishop Emmanuel has a large following on social media, with over 17,000 followers on Facebook.

He gained notoriety during the pandemic when he slammed Sydney’s Covid lockdown as ‘mass slavery’ and claimed vaccines are futile because living ‘normally’ will boost immunity.

Christ The Good Shepherd Church has nearly 200,000 subscribers on YouTube.