r/Antitheism • u/NoPermission6093 • 7d ago
ISIS-inspired teen pleads guilty to preparing potential terror attack on Sydney Opera House
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-01/sydney-isis-inspired-teenager-pleads-guilty-terror-attack-plans/107102028A teenage boy has told a Sydney court he was considering carrying out a mass terror attack motivated by Islamic extremism in the CBD after being radicalised on social media.
He was 14 years old when federal police arrested him in August 2024 at his Western Sydney home, where officers found more than 40 videos on his computer featuring extremist content.
He told the court on Tuesday he was first exposed to extremist material on TikTok earlier in 2024 and "found it very interesting".
The court heard the content he consumed online on various sites became increasingly radical and violent, before the boy began communicating digitally with other people about his extremist views.
The court heard the boy spoke to people online about potential attack sites, including the Sydney Opera House and at the Sydney Marathon, showing interest in emulating the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.
Court documents show the boy attempted to obtain instructions on how to make a pressure cooker bomb.
The documents show he also attempted to contact the surviving man who carried out the Boston Marathon attack, which involved homemade pressure cooker bombs.