Anti-Islam group storms Australia church

Right-wing protestors dressed in mock Muslim outfits and chanting anti-Islamic slogans have stormed a church service on Australia’s east coast.

The protestors interrupted a service held at Gosford Anglican Church on the Central Coast of New South Wales state, reports BBC online.

A group of about 10 people entered the church and pretended to pray while playing Muslim prayers over a loudspeaker.

Local police are investigating what the church described as a ‘racist stunt’.

The Party for Freedom posted photos and video of the incident on social media, claiming it was a demonstration against the church’s support for Islamic leaders and multiculturalism.

The organisation has ties to Senator Pauline Hanson’s anti-immigration One Nation party, which has won four seats in Australia’s Senate.

‘To come into sacred space, to violate that space as Christians were celebrating the ultimate act of love … to bring hate into that space is a deep violation. It just galvanises our conviction.’

Party for Freedom founder Nick Folkes said the group had about 450 members and has ambitions to register as a political party.

The group was previously refused permission to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2005 race riots in the Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla.