People Taking Selfies at the Sydney Siege

A cafe in Sydney, Australia is under siege by a Muslim extremist and hostages are being held at gunpoint. The hostages are being forced to take turns holding up the Islamic flag.

The cafe is surrounded by armed police and the area around the cafe is on lockdown.

The reaction from almost all sectors of Australian society has been one of horror and condemnation: It’s “profoundly shocking,” said Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and a coalition of Australian Muslim groups has released a statement decrying the gunman’s actions as “despicable,” and that the “misguided individuals… represent no one but themselves.”

And people are taking selfies.

“Unbelievable@Independent: People are actually taking selfies on the site of the #sydneysiege http://t.co/W7KmT6IpMJ pic.twitter.com/92PwVrLC6T”

— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) December 15, 2014