Current Events & Trends: Islamist attacks Australian police after fatwa

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Government officials in Australia say the threat is real.

On Sept. 24, 2014, only days after thwarted terror attacks in Australia (see "Islamic State Leaders Seek to Spread Terror to the West"), a young Islamist militant attacked two police officers in the Australian state of Victoria. The officers were wounded and are recovering in hospital care, while the attacker was shot dead.

The Daily Telegraph in Australia reports that the attacker was a known threat and "a person of interest in a counterterrorism operation aimed at detaining and questioning—and had been under surveillance in relation to threats" (Simon Benson, "Islamic Extremist Shot Dead, Two Police Officers Stabbed Outside Endeavour Hills Police Station in Victoria," Sept. 24, 2014).

The attack came after Abu Muhammad al-Adnani ash-Shami of the Islamic State terrorist organization proclaimed a fatwa ordering adherents in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe to kill non-Muslims.

Government officials in Australia say the threat is real. Australian Attorney-General George Brandis was quoted as saying, "We have to take the threat of ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant] very seriously because, as the Prime Minister has been saying all along, these people have set their face against the West in the most belligerent imaginable way" ("'We Must Take ISIL Threat Seriously,' Says Attorney-General," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sept. 23, 2014).

Please read "One Nation Under Allah?" of this issue to learn more about the threat radical Islam poses to the West. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph [Australia], Australian Broadcasting Corporation.)

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Rudolph Rangel III

Rudy Rangel attends the Cincinnati East, Ohio congregation along with his wife Judy and two children. 

Darris McNeely

Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43 years. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. He also is a resident faculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren.

Peter Eddington

Peter serves at the home office as Interim Manager of Media and Communications Services.

He studied production engineering at the Swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and is a journeyman machinist. He moved to the United States to attend Ambassador College in 1980. He graduated from the Pasadena campus in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and married his college sweetheart, Terri. Peter was ordained an elder in 1992. He served as assistant pastor in the Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, California, congregations from 1995 through 1998 and the Cincinnati, Ohio, congregations from 2010 through 2011.