Gunmen in Sydney appear to have been motivated by ISIS: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday in a news conference that the Bondi Beach shooters—who murdered more than a dozen Jews celebrating Hanukkah out on the beach—appear to have been radicalized by the Islamic State. "Radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem," said Albanese. The car believed to be driven by the suspects, Indian national Sajid Akram and his Australian-born son Naveed, had multiple homemade ISIS flags in it, as well as improvised explosive devices that were not detonated.
"Australian officials said Tuesday that both the father and son had traveled to the Philippines last month, and that the reasons for that trip were being investigated," per The New York Times. It's not clear yet whether that trip had anything to do with their radicalization or their planning of this horrific crime, but it seems possible, given where in the country they traveled. ("The Philippine Bureau of Immigration said they had arrived in the country together on Nov. 1, reporting their final destination as Davao, a city considered the gateway to the south of the country. Parts of the southern Philippines remain a center for Islamic State militant activity. The two men left the country on Nov. 28.")
