NSW police launch major investigation after threat made to Sydney mosque | Sydney

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has said police are conducting a “major investigation” into a “distressing” threat made against a mosque in western Sydney that referenced the Christchurch terror attack.

NSW police on Tuesday evening confirmed they were investigating after the Australian Islamic House – Masjid Al-Bayt Al-Islami reported an online threat made against it on Instagram.

The mosque said an Instagram user had made offensive comments on its Instagram page including that they were “about to christ church 2.0 this join [sic]”. Guardian Australia has seen a screenshot of the comments, provided by the mosque.

The threat appears to be a reference to the terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March, 2019, in which Brenton Tarrant carried out two consecutive mass shootings at the Al Noor mosque in Riccarton and the Linwood Islamic Centre.

Tarrant has since been convicted of terrorism, the murder of 51 people and attempted murder of 40 people and jailed for life without parole.

The president of the Australian Islamic House, Mazhar Hadid, said he was “profoundly concerned” his mosque had received a threat referencing the “tragic” Christchurch attack.

“We are profoundly concerned by this threat and take it with the utmost seriousness,” Hadid said. “Our community deserves to feel safe and protected, just like any other citizen of this country.

Police said the online threat was made on Monday and their initial inquiries under Strike Force Pearl revealed the source was interstate.

They said there were no ongoing threats to the community.

Minns said the threat was “very distressing” and the NSW government and police were taking the matter “very seriously”.

“Racist threats and Islamophobia will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law,” he said.

More to come …