As Sydney siege ends, Australians stand with Muslims

Australian security forces stormed a Sydney café to end a 16-hour hostage-taking.

New South Wales police announced that the siege had ended at 2:44 a.m. at the Lindt Chocolate Café, and they have confirmed that the guman is dead.

Two people were wheeled out on stretchers.

During the standoff, five or six people (believed to be hostages, with some of them wearing Lindt aprons), had managed to run out of the café.

Throughout the ordeal, several people in the café were seen with their arms in the air or with their hands pressed against the window. Two of them were holding up a black flag with the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, on it.

The gunman was identified in Australian reports as 49-year-old Iranian refugee, Man Haron Monis, who received political asylum in 1996 in Australia and was facing several charges of sexual assault.

He appeared to be acting alone, according to reports.

Numerous Australian Muslim groups condemned the actions of the gunman.

Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, Australia's top Muslim cleric, released a statement in response to the situation:

His Eminence the Grand Mufti of Australia, the Australian National Imams Council supported by the Muslim community have been devastated by the recent news that have [sic] been circulated in the media agencies about the reported hostage incident unfolding in Martin Place.

The Grand Mufti and the Australian National Imams Council condemn this criminal act unequivocally and reiterate that such actions are denounced in part and in whole in Islam.

We along [with] the wide Australian society await the results of the investigation about the identity of the perpetrators and their underlying motivations behind this criminal act.

His Eminence the Grand Mufti, the Australian National Imams Council and the Muslim community express their full support and solidarity with the victims and their families and aspire to a peaceful resolve to this calamity.

The AMIC has received reports of Muslim women wearing the hijab being spat upon or harassed.

Groups such as the Australian Defence League and the Rise Up Australian Party have expressed their views on Facebook with statements such as "Here it is folks, homegrown islamic terrorism in our backyard, courtesy of successive australian governments and their brainwashed voters" and "The embedded Islamic terrorists are still milking fear".

However, Australians have taken to Twitter to show their support for Muslim people.

Twitter users began using the hashtag #Illridewithyou to counter anti-Muslim backlash and fears that some transit riders expressed about riding with Muslim people.

The hashtag has since gone viral internationally.