EARA One Hour Staff Training – Extremist Examples

1. Anders Breivik: born in 1979, Breivik is a right-wing Christian extremist, who claims grievances against what he perceives to be a Marxist-Islamist takeover of Europe, feminism and European liberalism. Breivik carried out the terror attacks in Oslo and Utoeya Island in Norway in July 2011 that killed 77 people and injured more than two hundred. Breivik wrote a 1550-page manifesto called “2083: A European Declaration of Independence”, which he sent to over 1000 email addresses before he undertook the attacks. He was deemed to be sane by judges who sentenced him to 21 years in prison. He was photographed doing the Nazi salute in court. He was diagnosed with dissocial personality disorder and narcissistic traits. He also claims he was part of a large organisation, which does not exist in reality. In 2017, he changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen. He is currently held in a high-security prison and is undertaking a long-distance degree in political science at the University of Oslo.

2. Sally Jones aka The White Widow: born in Kent, she used to be a guitarist in an all-girl punk-rock band and a perfume saleswoman before she married an ISIS hacker recruiter (her husband died in a US drone strike in 2015). Before converting, Jones showed an interest on conspiracy theories and black magic. Jones changed her name to Umm Hussain al-Britani. She is now a propagandist and also responsible for recruiting and training female followers for the self-proclaimed Islamic State. She was designated as an international terrorist by the UN and placed on a sanctions regime. Jones is now based in Syria and her 11-year-old son is seen in an ISIS video carrying out executions of ISIS prisoners.

3. : also known as The White Widow, she was born in in 1983 and grew up in England. Lewthwaite started a degree in politics and religion at the School of Oriental and African Studies in but dropped out. She reportedly converted to at 17 after her parents’ divorce, as she sought stability from her Muslim neighbours. She was married to 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, whom she met at a Stop the War march in Hyde Park in 2002. She alleged she did not know about the planning of the attacks, although evidence showed she was connected to the ringleader. Although her whereabouts are unknown, it is thought that she has moved to Kenya or , where she is suspected of planning several terror attacks. She is allegedly responsible for the deaths of more than 400 people. She is the subject of an international warrant from Interpol and is one of the world’s most wanted terrorists.

4. Salman Abedi: Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to Libyan parents (his parents fled the Gaddafi regime). Former friends say he was a good footballer and a user of cannabis; they remember him as a “jokey lad” who also had a short temper. Friends at school say he was away at random times during the school year. One friend described him as “very, very gullible”. His cousins believe he may have been radicalised abroad. A family friend said that Abedi’s father used to meet the radical preacher Abu Qatada in London. It’s also been reported that Abedi’s father fought against the Gaddafi regime with his father in Libya during his school days. Abedi became more religious after he left school. While at Manchester College, two separate individuals contacted an anti-terrorism hotline to report

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Abedi’s extremist views. One support worker said he heard from Abedi that he supported terrorism and “being a suicide bomber is OK”. Abedi did not complete his higher education studies and because of this was taken back and forth to Libya by his family. He carried out the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena. His parents live in Libya and Abedi was there just before the attack. Hamid El-Sayed, who worked for the UN on tackling radicalisation, believes Abedi had a bad relationship with his family and had trouble adapting to the lifestyle in Europe. Abedi was known to the security services but not the Prevent scheme. It’s reported that intelligence services believe he had been to Syria.

5. Amira Abase: Amira was a former straight-A student at Bethnal Green Academy and had interviews with prestigious colleges lined up for after her GCSE exams. Abase was 15 when she left her family and fled with two other friends from her school to Syria via Turkey in February 2015. She planned the trip together with her friends without their parents knowing and the three girls were following in the footsteps of a former student at their school who had fled to Syria a few months earlier. Her disappearance came as a great surprise to her family, as she was usually scared of staying outside after the dark and would ask her father to pick her up at the bus stop. It is believed that they were radicalised online, although there is no evidence they were radicalised at school. The three girls married “jihadis” from ISIS and it is believed that now Abase has an active role in recruiting girls to join ISIS in Syria.

6. Darren Osbourne: the 47-year-old from Cardiff is a married father of four. It’s reported that he expressed abuse towards the Muslim community in the past. Neighbours in Cardiff described him as “aggressive and strange”. He also reportedly became aggressive after drinking too much. He is responsible for the van attack near the Finsbury Park (June 2017) and he singled out Muslims in the early hours of the day as they were leaving the Ramadan prayers. His sister claims he was on medication for mental health issues. There is no evidence he is linked with any far-right organisation, although he followed the leaders of Britain First on Twitter.

7. Sharmeena Begum: born to Bangladeshi parents in 1999, Sharmeena was largely brought up by her mother and grew up in a council flat in London. She was an only child and lost her mother to cancer when she was 14. After the death of her mother, Sharmeena was targeted by online extremists. She reportedly began skipping classes and deactivated her social media accounts before she disappeared. She also began learning Arabic. She persuaded her grandmother to hand over her passport before she fled. She was one of the youngest British teenagers to join ISIS. A student of Bethnal Green Academy who fled to Syria in December 2014. It is believed that she may have radicalised her former classmates; the three girls now famous for fleeing to Syria- including Amira Abase.

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