A two-year investigation by Australian Broadcasting Corporation has uncovered evidence that young gay and bisexual males in Sydney were allegedly targeted, lured through dating apps, and violently assaulted in incidents dating back to 2023.
Court exhibits and leaked footage reviewed by ABC show victims being attacked on camera. In one recording, a 16-year-old boy is forced into a public toilet, beaten until bloodied, and called slurs including “f***ot” and “kaffir” as he pleads for his life. Another video shows a victim held in a headlock while attackers shout “Islamic State lives” and demand money, threatening to kill him.
“You wanna be gay?” one attacker asks in footage played in Sydney courts before stomping on the victim’s face.
Five teenagers have been convicted of the assaults. Several were found to have attended the Al Madina Dawah Centre in Bankstown, a prayer hall later shut down following the December Bondi Beach massacre. Police evidence presented in court linked members of the group to prominent pro-IS figures, including cleric Wisam Haddad and alleged youth recruiter Wassim Fayad.
The ABC reported that individuals in the assault videos were connected to the same extremist network as Naveed and Sajid Akram, the father and son responsible for the Hanukkah attack at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead.
According to the investigation, the attackers used apps such as Grindr and Wizz to identify and lure victims. Authorities said the assaults were coordinated and recorded, with footage later circulated in chat groups.
The incidents have prompted renewed scrutiny of extremist radicalization and online recruitment tactics. A parliamentary inquiry has been established in Victoria to examine a rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ individuals, including the role of online networks in influencing youth.
Extremism researcher Josh Roose of Deakin University told the ABC, “We are at risk of seeing these attacks that we’ve seen on videos turn deadly.” He added, “It’s only a matter of time before a young man or men are killed.”
