[RT] Khuram Shazad Butt, Notice that the name is Pakistained.
one the London Bridge attackers recently identified by police, appeared in a Channel 4 documentary called ‘The Jihadist Next Door’ last year. Police were reportedly alerted after he was filmed praying behind a jihadist Black Standard and attempting to recruit children at a local park.
Butt, 27, from Barking, East London was part of a “group of British extremists intent on spreading their message of global jihad” who appeared in the program.
In the documentary, Butt (wearing all beige) is filmed praying with the Black Standard with white shahada (Islamic creed) flag in the forefront, along with a group of other radical Muslims in the middle of London’s Regent’s Park. The variations of the Black Standard with white shahada has been used by numerous jihadist groups including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
A police statement released Monday said Butt was known to police and the domestic intelligence agency MI5, but was not thought to have been planning an attack.
| And courtesy of Beavis, ABC News adds: |
Neighbors have identified one of the London Bridge attack suspects as a man known by the nickname "ABZ" or "Abs" who was featured in a recent documentary on the British Channel 4 from 2016 called "The Jihadist Next Door."
Neighbors say he was the attacker who wore the fake suicide vest during the vehicle and stabbing attack that killed seven people in London on Saturday night.
He was a member of Al Muhajiroun, a small group of men led by Anjem Choudary and Siddartha Dhar who openly preached for the need for Sharia law.
The group was closely monitored by authorities.
According to Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, research director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, Choudary's network of extremist followers has numbered in the hundreds, and many have been charged with terrorism offenses in the U.K. or fought and died in Syria with ISIS.
"So the potential for more of them to mobilize is still there," said Meleagrou-Hitchens, who has interviewed several members of the group. "Almost all would be known to authorities though ... There are hundreds of members but only small fraction will act. Knowing which ones will is hard and not an exact science."
Another British expert said Al-Muhajiroun has proven time and again that many of those involved with it are truly "dangerous individuals," justifying the British government's 2010 ban on Choudary's group.
"Thwarting plots relies on an element of luck," said Robin Simcox, a terrorism expert at the Heritage Foundation. "And with 23,000 suspects on the radar, the British Security Services simply don't have the capacity to track everyone that is a potential terror threat."
| What else was known as of midnight, and a place to add updates as the day progresses. Yesterday's report is here. Previous reports are linked there. From the BBC: |
- Two of the attackers named by police as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane
- Butt was known to police and MI5 but there was no intelligence to suggest an attack, Scotland Yard says
- Police searched an address in Newham and another in Barking, east London - 12 people were arrested, all are released without charge
- NHS England says 36 injured remain in hospital, 18 are still in a critical condition
- General election campaigning has resumed with PM Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn focusing on security
The other was Rachid Redouane, 30, from Barking, who police said claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan. Redouane, who was a chef, also used the name Rachid Elkhdar and a different birth date. He was not known to police.
He had also lived for a time in Dublin, Ireland's RTE reports.
Redouane married a British woman in Ireland in 2011 before moving back to the UK, it added. They both returned to Ireland in 2016 for a short time before separating.
Documentation, believed to be an identity card, was found after he was shot dead, the broadcaster says.
Barriers are being built on a number of bridges in London following Saturday's attack. They have been described by the Metropolitan Police as "increased security measures".
Westminster Bridge, where a man ploughed a car into pedestrians in March, was the the first to have them installed, the Met said.
| The Telegraph liveblog has photos of ringleader Mr. Butt and Mr. Redouane, pastry chef. |
The third dead attacker is not a UK citizen.
Barriers have been installed on three central London bridges following the latest terror attack to hit the capital. The structures have been introduced to stop traffic from mounting the pavement on Westminster, Lambeth and Waterloo bridges.
Jeremy Corbyn said Isil supporters should not be prosecuted for 'expressing a political point of view'
The killers' final movements: London Bridge terrorist sent a WhatsApp message after posting lines from the Quran, before his accomplice made last visit to his estranged British wife and baby
[DailyMail] Many more photos at the link.
- Rachid Redouane went to the mother of his 18-month-old girl's flat in Barking to kiss his daughter goodbye
- Three hours later, Moroccan-born murderer was one of three who killed seven people in the capital's streets
- Redouane, who also claimed to be Libyan, tried to stop her daughter watching TV in case it turned her gay
- Khuram Butts' WhatsApp profile reads 'Allah says (Quran 94:6) - Indeed, with hardship, comes ease'
- He was known to both police and MI5, but because he wasn't 'planning attack', he wasn't deemed a priority
- The police and MI5 are awaiting international confirmation before naming the third terrorist.
| Update at noon EDT. We now have photos and information about all three miscreants, two of whom were known wolves. |
- Third London Bridge attacker is named in Italy as Youssef Zaghba, a Moroccan-Italian who is 22 years old
- Italian newspaper says he was stopped at Bologna airport 'trying to travel to Syria' just last year
- Security source claims British and Moroccan authorities were warned by Italy about his movements
- Scotland Yard insist he wasn't 'a police or MI5 subject of interest' as questions grow over attackers