--- title: Sydney Siege: Australians Tweet #IllRideWithYou for Local Muslims description: A bid to prevent an anti-Muslim backlash canonical: https://time.com/3633380/sydney-hostage-siege-illridewithyou-australia/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-15T13:43:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:06.790Z og:title: Australians Use #IllRideWithYou Hashtag in Solidarity With Muslims During Sydney Siege og:description: A bid to prevent an anti-Muslim backlash. og:url: https://time.com/3633380/sydney-hostage-siege-illridewithyou-australia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Australians Use #IllRideWithYou Hashtag in Solidarity With Muslims During Sydney Siege twitter:description: A bid to prevent an anti-Muslim backlash. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Australians Use #IllRideWithYou Hashtag in Solidarity With Muslims During Sydney Siege > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Sydney Hostage Situation: Gunman Seen Inside Cafe, Hostages Escaping [Watch (HLS stream): Sydney Hostage Situation: Gunman Seen Inside Cafe, Hostages Escaping](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CALWWBKN.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2014-12-15. A gunman can be seen seen inside the Sydney chocolate shop where several hostages are holed up._ by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Dec 15, 2014 1:43 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Dec 15, 2014 1:43 PM UTC Even as tensions remained high in the midst of [a hostage siege in Sydney on Monday](http://time.com/3633134/sydney-hostage-martin-place-lindt-cafe-terrorism/), some Australians were taking to social media to ensure local Muslims feel safe from potential backlash. It wasn’t immediately clear what the motive was of a gunman who took hostages in a local café, but a black-and-white Arabic flag could be seen, leading to speculation that an Islamist terrorist was the culprit. Users soon started tweeting the hashtag #IllRideWithYou. When Rachael Jacobs noticed the woman sitting next to her on the train silently removing her hijab, she told her to keep it on — “I’ll ride with you.” > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelJames%5FTV/status/544339713394368512) Others spread the hashtag in a sign of solidarity. > [](https://twitter.com/sirtessa/status/544363242655449088) > [](https://twitter.com/sirtessa/status/544363674505199616) According to social analytics tracker [Topsy](http://topsy.com/s?q=%23Illridewithyou&window=d&sort=-date), the hashtag had been tweeted more than 166,000 times in the eight hours following @sirtessa’s tweet. > [](https://twitter.com/msclaracollin/status/544415825080229888) > [](https://twitter.com/PeterDoyley/status/544424933485330432) > [](https://twitter.com/OzgeSevindik/status/544454256212717568) > [](https://twitter.com/anggerwitasari/status/544454734812176384) > [](https://twitter.com/lucethoughts/status/544419193865523200) > [](https://twitter.com/rachaeljacobs/status/544468703941623809) > [](https://twitter.com/rachaeljacobs/status/544468718911123456) > [](https://twitter.com/ahealy77/status/544445090110783489) _Read next:_ [_Central Sydney in Lockdown Amid a Developing Hostage Crisis_](http://time.com/3633134/sydney-hostage-martin-place-lindt-cafe-terrorism/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ## Transcript Australia is. A peaceful, open and generous society. Nothing should ever change that, and that's why I would wor, I would urge all Australians. 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