By now, the headlines everywhere carry the story of an ongoing tense standoff between a self-described jihadist holed up in a cafe in Sydney, Australia, and authorities there, who are attempting among things to free the 15 innocent captives inside. The hostage taker has been identified as Islamic cleric Man Haron Monis, a self-proclaimed sheik originally from Iran. Between 2007 and 2009, Monis was charged with sending hate mail to the families of dead Australian soldiers, for which he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service.
He was also charged as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, who was allegedly stabbed and set on fire on a flight of stairs in November 2013.
According to Daily Mail Australia, dozens of heavily armed police have been dispatched to the scene and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione had said that he will do whatever it takes for the situation to be peacefully resolved. Monis’a demands include the flying of the flag of the Islamic State terror group over Iraq and Syria.
So as the drama unfolds, you would expect civilians outside the cafe to be conducting a vigil for the safe release of the hostages. While many in fact may be, some are using the opportunity for more frivolous pursuits:
Bystanders taking selfies at scene of Sydney hostage siege. http://t.co/OgTn7iAO1W pic.twitter.com/FkxZWo6dSs
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) December 15, 2014
A pox on them.