Ben Cohen is speaking out after he was mistakenly identified as the Westfield Bondi Junction knifeman

A Sydney university student claims he was sent ‘thousands’ of messages after he was mistakenly identified as the knifeman behind a horrific attack in which six innocent shoppers were killed.

Ben Cohen, a 20-year-old first-year computer science student at the University of Technology, was falsely accused online of stabbing shoppers at Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday afternoon.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has since identified 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi as the man who attacked shoppers with a knife.

The name ‘Benjamin Cohen’ started trending on X – formerly known as Twitter – just hours after the stabbings, with more than 50,000 posts mentioning his name.

Sir. Cohen slammed the accusations of internet speculators as “very dangerous” and noted that they could “destroy people’s lives”.

The knifeman (pictured during the attack) has since been identified by police as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi

Sir. Cohen’s father, Mark, said the family, who live together in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, were “freaked out” by the shocking allegations.

“I think they just went for the first face that looks similar and matches their own motives or whatever they wanted the story to be,” Mark shared. news.com.au.

‘They don’t realize how much damage they can do. I have worked in tech all my life, my wife is a teacher. We’re just a very normal family.’

Mark added that the vicious rumors even reached Mr Cohen’s extended family with loved ones calling to find out if they were true.

‘Everyone is asking what’s going on, people are asking if it’s true. Of course that’s not true, he’s not even a politically motivated person. He’s just a normal kid who has to deal with this now, he said.

Hours before the police held a press conference and revealed Cauchi as the knifeman, Mark had gone to X to clear his son’s name.

“Hey NSW Police you need to release the name of the Bondi Junction attacker before this nonsense claiming it was my son causes more damage,” he wrote.

TheWSTNews Australia contacted Mark Cohen for comment.

Among those killed was 38-year-old mother Ashlee Good, who was the first to be hit by Cauchi, along with her nine-month-old baby daughter Harriet.

The baby remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery.

Six innocent shoppers, including the mother of an injured nine-month-old baby, died in the horror stabbing on Saturday afternoon (pictured, witnesses speak to an officer at the scene)

Their heartbroken family shared a statement on Sunday morning.

“Today we mourn the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, outstanding human being and so much more,” it read.

‘We appreciate the well wishes and thoughts from members of the Australian public who have expressed an outpouring of love for Ashlee and our baby girl.

“We are so grateful for the expert care and attention provided by the medical team at Sydney Children’s Hospital.

‘We would also like to thank the New South Wales Police for their kindness and diligence in this tragedy and emergency services for getting our baby the care she needed as quickly as possible.

‘To the two men who held and looked after our baby when Ashlee couldn’t – words cannot express our gratitude.’