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Sydney Hostage Standoff: Siege Bystanders Taking Selfies Spark Backlash [Tweets From Lindt Cafe]

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 23:15 PST, Dec 14, 2014

Sydney siege bystanders taking selfies near the Lindt Café, where a gunman is holding up to 30 hostages and demanding an ISIS flag, are facing backlash online. Social media users have been posting images of individuals taking selfies and lambasting the men and women who appear to be making light of the deadly situation. The unidentified gunman refers to himself as “the brother.” He claims he has two bombs planted in the cafe and several others hidden throughout Sydney. According to statements made by Sydney siege witnesses who escaped the Lindt Chocolate Cafe, the ISIS gunman claims to have other operatives positioned around the city as well.

Some of the Sydney siege selfies have been deleted in response to the angry comments by Australian residents and folks from around the world who viewed the images. The Lindt Café gunman has allowed the hostages to use social media in an attempt to garner added publicity for the possible ISIS lone wolf attack. A hostage contacted a local radio host and attempted to get live on the air, the host refused to comply and contacted the police. The Australian radio host told the audience that he is not a trained hostage negotiator and feared making the situation worse.

The Sydney gunman has stated that he will exchange a hostage for an ISIS flag. A black and white flag with Islamic phrasing is currently hanging in the Lindt Cafe window. Hostages are believed to have been forced to hold the Islamic flag against the window. The black flag displays the white Arabic text of the “shahada,” the basic statement of the Islamic faith, and is reportedly often used by jihadist groups around the world. The phrase means “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.”

The Australian cafe is now dark, but it is currently not known if the gunman turned out the lights or law enforcement agencies cut power to the cafe. As previously reported by Inquisitr, five hostages appear to have escaped the siege using a back door at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe. The possible ISIS lone wolf attacker appeared agitated after realizing the three men and two women escaped.

[Image via: Twitter]

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