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| Wednesday July 25, 2018 | ||
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What happens to the real terrorists while the 'intelligence' services chase trade unionists and political activists
Case Study: Khuram Butt | ||
| Khuram Butt, 27, of Barking, London, appeared on the Channel Four documentary The Jihadis Next Door about extreme Islam in London, broadcast in 2016. At one point in the documentary, he can be seen helping unfurl a black banner in Regent's Park. | ||
| According to the Daily Telegraph, Butt had been reported to the authorities at least twice. A former friend claimed he phoned the anti-terror hotline because Butt expressed extremist views after watching videos by the American hate preacher Ahmad Musa Jibril. A neighbour said she went to the police after Butt attempted to "brainwash" and radicalise her children. The Telegraph also reported that he was thrown out of his local mosque two years ago after clashing with the Imam about politics. | ||
| According to CNN, Butt was a member of al-Muhajiroun, a British group supportive of ISIS linked to terrorist plots involving UK nationals. CNN's Sandi Sidhu met him several times while reporting on the group in the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2016. Butt went by the name "Abz" or "Abu Zaitun". | ||
| On Saturday June 3, 2017, Butt was the leader of a gang of three who used a white van to mow down pedestrians on London Bridge and then leapt out of the vehicle to knife people in restaurants, pubs and on the streets of Borough. Eight people were killed and 50 injured. | ||
| The Times newspaper said it had obtained footage of the men laughing and joking five days before the attack as they met outside the Ummah Fitness Centre, a gym in east London where Butt trained. | ||
| Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "Many of us in the British Muslim community have been demanding action against these extremists to no avail. I am not surprised that Khuram Butt carried out the terrorist attack and there are serious questions for the authorities." | ||
| Clearly if GCHQ's Tempora system, designed to extract all phone and internet traffic, had been tracking terrorists instead of trade unionists and political activists, Butt would have been stopped long before he got to London Bridge. | ||
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This blog is based on reports in various online newspapers:
The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/04/london-terrorist-had-twice-referred-police-extremist-views/ https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/05/europe/khuram-butt-london-attacker/index.html https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-security/police-arrest-three-as-footage-of-london-bridge-attack-appears-online-idUKKBN18Z0NO | Posted by Jonathan Brind. | |
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| Wednesday July 25, 2018 | ||