It is no huge surprise Ali Harbi Ali, the man arrested on suspicion of the murder of David Amess, had reportedly been referred to the anti-terrorism ‘Prevent’ programme some years ago. We don’t yet know if he was a ‘lone wolf’ type made psychotic by cannabis use and then radicalised online, as the new generation of Muslim terrorists so often are. Police are treating the murder as a terrorist incident ‘potentially linked to Islamic extremism’ and Harbi Ali is being held under the Terrorism Act.
The British-born Ali (whose father used to advise the Somali Prime Minister) wasn’t known to MI5, so wasn’t one of the 3,000 ‘subjects of interest’ on its radar. Nor does being referred to Prevent, on its own, confer ‘terror suspect’ status. About 6,000 referrals are made a year on the strength of suspicious behaviour (social media posts, statements etc). A lot remains unknown.
It’s fair to say, though, that the murderer probably wasn’t inspired by Angela Rayner calling Tories ‘scum’, nor a COVID conspiracy theorist, nor someone furious with Sir David’s pro-life views (although some reports do say said Amess’s Catholicism might have been a motivating factor).
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