President Donald Trump mourned the lives lost in multiple terrorist attacks over the weekend leading into the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, hailing the heroism of the "very brave person" who disarmed one of the Australian terrorists.
"It was a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked, frontally, one of the shooters and saved a lot of lives," Trump said during a White House Christmas reception Sunday.
"A very brave person, who is right now in the hospital, who is very seriously wounded.
"So I have great respect to that man that did that."
The bystander, seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach, is being heralded as a hero who saved lives.
Video footage posted to social media shows a passerby dressed in a white T-shirt and dark pants crouching behind a parked car before sneaking up behind a gunman, grabbing him and wrestling away his firearm. The bystander then points the weapon at the gunman, who falls to the ground.
The intervention drew wide praise, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called it the "most unbelievable scene."
"A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people," Minns said. "That man is a genuine hero."
The bystander who tackled one of the gunmen was identified as 43-year-old Ahmed Al Ahmed by 7NEWS Australia, which interviewed his cousin.
He was shot twice, suffering wounds to his arm and hand, and needed to undergo surgery, according to the cousin identified by the news outlet as Mustafa. He said his cousin is a fruit shop owner and father of two from Sydney.
"We hope he will be fine," Mustafa said. "He's a hero. One hundred percent, he's a hero."
New South Wales Police acknowledged the bystander's actions, but could not confirm his identity.
"Inquiries are continuing and we are still endeavoring to identify all involved," police said in an emailed statement.
The two gunmen's attack at the Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens of others.
The massacre at one of Australia's most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country the past year, although the authorities did not suggest those episodes and Sunday's shooting were connected.
It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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