The foster mother who didn't know
Last week an Iraqi teenage asylum seeker Ahmed Hassan, who had been in foster care for two years, was convicted for a bomb attack on the London Underground, the bomb was faulty and only partly worked, injuring fifty-one. The foster parents knew nothing about his intentions, nor that for a year he had been subject of a counter-radicalisation action. Hassan awaits sentencing.
The carers were interviewed by ITV and this link is a detailed account. It ends with:
Quote:
We've asked ourselves time and time again 'what did we miss?
Link:http://www.itv.com/news/2018-03-19/s...suspected-him/
The BBC News report is shorter:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43463856
Widow of Westminster attacker 'sorry she was not more vigilant'
Both the mother and wife of Khalid Masood, who killed four pedestrians and a police officer in a car and knife attack @ Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster in March 2017, have offered their evidence on what they knew beforehand.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ry-personality
Man charged over US mid-term elections 'bomb plot'
A "lone wolf" example of a plot detected and in the USA:
Quote:
A man who planned to blow himself up in Washington DC on the day of next month's mid-term elections has been held and charged, US prosecutors say.They say Paul Rosenfeld, 56, built a 200lb (91kg) explosive device and wanted to detonate it on the National Mall in the capital on 6 November.
They say he wanted to draw attention to his belief in "sortition" - a political theory that advocates the random selection of government officials.
This came after an individual had received letters and text messages from the suspect about the plot, and had alerted the authorities.
Link:https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...on-day-n918771 and cited text from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45818990
After Melbourne: a view from Australia Part 2
From an Australian newspaper, written after the Melbourne street attack (where three were stabbed, one died and culprit was shot dead):
Quote:
Most terrorism experts are agreed that the untempered lecturing of Muslim communities is counterproductive. It denies their history of co-operation and hints at some sinister recalcitrance. But it’s unlikely that these very public addresses are intended for Islamic leaders – they’re meant to reinforce a general impression of the government’s strength, even if it may perversely undermine it.
I spoke with one federal police officer with extensive experience in community policing and liaison with mosques. “Generally, the relationship between police and the Muslim community is good,” they said. “Counterterrorist and intelligence agencies understand that we get a lot of our intelligence from within the Islamic community, so it is important to foster a strong and lasting relationship. Generally, there is a multicultural liaison officer in each city, [for example] the City of Dandenong, that works directly with all the different communities and their leaders. These liaison officers are often the first point of contact between the community leaders and police. Some of the mosques tend to not be as receptive and are sceptical of police, while others have integrated well and collaborate well with police, sharing information openly and freely.
“My concern from a policing perspective is to not demonise the Muslim community. They are our primary source of intelligence in relation to radicalised individuals. I don’t think the greater community appreciate that this is where we get our intelligence from – members within that community. They have to continue to feel comfortable in coming forward and co-operating with police.”
Peter Lentini reinforced this: “The record needs to be set straight: when these problems started... take an investigation like [Operation] Pendennis – they actually began with tips from Muslim communities themselves. So that myth is shattered. That’s extremely important. It demonstrates that Muslims follow the law. I’ve written extensively on this, as have others. Many of these people have come from circumstances that anyone in a uniform is someone who may harm them. So for them to come to police, it’s a big vote of confidence in the state.
Link:https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/...15423732007149
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Norwegian contribution to discovering terrorist plots
Id'd via Twitter a very short report by their Security Service (PST) and in Norwegian - thankfully someone has done an English summary! The report has the graphics which can be matched to the English text below.
Thomas Hegghammer, a Norwegian SME commented on Twitter:
Quote:
Short but valuable new report by Norwegian Security Service @PSTnorge on how terrorist plots are discovered. It’s the first such study I’ve seen based on classified data (as opposed to data from media sources).
Quote:
The report is based on 91 disrupted plots/prevented attacks in 13 Western countries between 2012 and 2019, and includes both Islamist and right wing extremist plots. Of the 91 disrupted plots, 43% were discovered by intel/security services, and 28% by regular police. The remaining 29% were initiated by information from private persons (18%) and employees in public/private sectors (11%). The report sought to identify the the "initial indicators" that first had alerted the authorities to attack planning, using 6 categories: Expressed threat(s); a tip from a family or friend; a tip from a third party; online activity; regular police work; or other. Online activity (45%) and third-party tip-offs to authorities (23%) were most common, followed by tip-offs from family/friends (10%), regular police work (9%) and expressed threats (3%). They assess the actual % of family/friends aware of terror plans to be higher. Based on this, PST has listed certain behaviors, statements and material acquisitions they want the public to be aware of and notify them of. This list has been communicated in several Norwegian news outlets this week.
Link: https://www.pst.no/globalassets/arti...rrorangrep.pdf
Update Norwegian contribution in English
The blogger Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi has translated the PST study. His introduction cited in part:
Quote:
The study covers 91 disrupted terrorist plots in the period 2012-2019 whereby the initial indicators of how the plots were uncovered are known to the Norwegian Police Security Service. Among other things, the study argues from the data it examines that family and acquaintances of would-be terrorists in particular need to be more willing to step up and inform the authorities. The study concludes with an outline of scenarios (e.g. expression of extremist attitudes and acquisitions of things like firearms for no obvious reason) where people should inform the police and security services of any suspicions they might have, acting on instinct even if they are not fully sure.
Link to translation (with original shown):http://www.aymennjawad.org/2020/02/n...rvice-study-on
Tpping off the authorities: UK polling data
As part of a wider review of the UK Prevent programme CREST, a UK policing and crime "think tank" have commissioned opinion polling. For this topic it found that:
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Some 67% of British Muslims surveyed said they would tip off the authorities about someone being radicalised, compared with 63% of the wider public.The survey also found: 63% of Muslims and 67% of the wider public worried about Islamist extremism; 64% of Muslims and 71% of the wider public said they trusted the police
Link to report:https://www.crestadvisory.com/post/e...sm-and-prevent and link to BBC News story:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51676923