Latest news with #TerrorismActof2000
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kneecap Vow to 'Fight' Terror Offense Charge: 'This Is a Carnival of Distraction'
The post Kneecap Vow to 'Fight' Terror Offense Charge: 'This Is a Carnival of Distraction' appeared first on Consequence. Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap have issued a statement in response to member Mo Chara (born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) being charged with a terror offense by London's Metropolitan Police. Ó hAnnaidh was charged on Wednesday, May 21st, for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during their concert at O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London in November 2024. Hezbollah is designated as a 'proscribed' terrorist group under UK law, making this an offense under the Terrorism Act of 2000. 'We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves,' Kneecap wrote on social media. 'This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.' The group added, '14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of the wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us.' 'As they profit from genocide, they use an 'anti-terror law' against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage,' Kneecap continued. 'A charge not serious enough to even warrant their 'crown court,' instead a court that doesn't have a jury. What's the objective?' The band further criticized the British government by saying, 'Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification.' 'We stand proudly with the people,' they concluded. 'You stand complicit with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in your court. We will win. Free Palestine.' Ó hAnnaidh was charged following an investigation launched by UK counter-terrorism police earlier this month into online videos allegedly showing Kneecap expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Kneecap previously released a statement saying they 'do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.' They added, 'An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.' The group has been under immense scrutiny since displaying pro-Palestine, anti-Israel messaging at Coachella 2025: Sharon Osbourne publicly called for their work visas to be rescinded, they parted ways with US booking agency Independent Artist Group, and several of their concerts were canceled in Germany. Several high-profile UK acts, including Massive Attack, Pulp, Primal Scream, Fontaines D.C., IDLES, and The Pogues, have supported Kneecap, signing an open letter defending their freedom of expression. Kneecap have just announced their first concert since Coachella: an intimate show at London's 100 Club taking place tonight, May 22nd. They're also set to play Wide Awake Festival this Friday, May 23rd. Ó hAnnaidh is scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court on June 18th. Popular Posts Trump Warns Springsteen: "He Ought to Keep His Mouth Shut Until He's Back Into the Country" New Reality TV Show That Sees immigrants Compete for US Citizenship Has Backing of Trump Administration: Report Holy Shit, You Have to See Footage from System of a Down's Concert in Brazil Bruce Springsteen Gives Trump the Middle Finger with Another Defiant Concert Guns N' Roses Share Video of Axl Rose Repeatedly Falling Onstage: Watch Neil Young to Trump: "I'm Not Scared of You. Neither Are the Rest of Us" Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
Daily Record
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
BBC Bargain Hunt star Oghenochuko Ojiri arrives at court to face terror charges
The TV personality faces eight charges. Oghenochuko Ojiri has arrived at court ahead of a hearing over alleged terrorism offences. He is set to appear in the dock later today charged with "terrorist financing". The 53-year-old is charged with eight counts of "failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector". The case was brought following an investigation. The Metropolitan Police have stated that these offences are believed to have taken place between October 2020 and December 2021, The Mirror reports. This marks the first charge of its kind under section 21A of the Terrorism Act of 2000, according to the force. The TV personality is also known also as Ochuko Ojiri. The investigation was conducted by the Met's specialist arts and antiques unit, in collaboration with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HMRC. In a statement about the Bargain Hunt star's case, the BBC said: "It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings." The Met said: "Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53 (05.05.72), of west London, has been charged following an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), part of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. "Following authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service, he has been charged with eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. "The charges relate to a period from October 2020 to December 2021." The investigation has been carried out in partnership with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in HM Treasury, HMRC (the organisation that regulates the art sector), and the Met's Arts & Antiques Unit." Mr Ojiri, who is listed as one of Bargain Hunt's experts on the show's website, works as a freelance presenter and is not a BBC staff member. He has also featured on Antiques Road Trip and Channel 5's Storage: Flog the Lot! He has not worked on any BBC programmes since 2023. Mr Ojiri is also the founder of the Ramp Gallery, a contemporary art showroom now known as the Ojiri Gallery, based in east London, which specialises in emerging and contemporary artists. He grew up with a love for the arts and eventually started a career in antiques. Ojiri said: "No other industry would accept my rare mixture of sarcasm, cynicism and passion. Ha-ha!" The antique expert opened his own vintage shop and art gallery called Pelicans & Parrots with Juliet Da Silva on Stoke Newington Road in Dalston, London. It sold contemporary furniture, houseware and gifts. They were able to get the right to serve alcohol on the premises to support pop-up events. Ojiri told the local council about his business's success in 2019: "We've been trading since 2010, and have been integral to the regeneration of the area. We're very proud of what we've achieved in those nine years. We've taken risks and we're proudly part of the community."
Daily Mirror
09-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Bargain Hunt star arrives at court over terror charges
Bargain Hunt star Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, has arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, England after being charged on charges related to "terrorist financing". The TV personality has been charged with eight charges of "failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector", following an investigation into alleged "terrorist financing". The Metropolitan Police have stated that these offences are believed to have taken place between October 2020 and December 2021. Known also as Ochuko Ojiri, the Bargain Hunt star is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday. This marks the first charge of its kind under section 21A of the Terrorism Act of 2000, according to the force. The investigation was conducted by the Met's specialist arts and antiques unit, in collaboration with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HMRC. The BBC, in a statement, said: "It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings." In a statement, the Met said: "Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53 (05.05.72), of west London, has been charged following an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), part of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. "Following authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service, he has been charged with eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. The charges relate to a period from October 2020 to December 2021." They added: "The investigation has been carried out in partnership with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in HM Treasury, HMRC (the organisation that regulates the art sector), and the Met's Arts & Antiques Unit." Mr Ojiri, who is listed as one of Bargain Hunt's experts on the show's website, works as a freelance presenter and is not a BBC staff member. He has also featured on Antiques Road Trip and Channel 5's Storage: Flog the Lot! He has not worked on any BBC programmes since 2023. Mr Ojiri is also the founder of the Ramp Gallery, a contemporary art showroom now known as the Ojiri Gallery, based in east London, which specialises in emerging and contemporary artists. He grew up with a love for the arts and eventually started a career in antiques. Ojiri said: "No other industry would accept my rare mixture of sarcasm, cynicism and passion. Ha-ha!" The antique expert opened his own vintage shop and art gallery called Pelicans & Parrots with Juliet Da Silva on Stoke Newington Road in Dalston, London. It sold contemporary furniture, houseware and gifts. They were able to get the right to serve alcohol on the premises to support pop-up events. Ojiri told the local council about his business's success in 2019: "We've been trading since 2010, and have been integral to the regeneration of the area. We're very proud of what we've achieved in those nine years. We've taken risks and we're proudly part of the community."
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Pick-n-mix' ideologies: Why violent motivations are becoming harder to define
"Loners and misfits and young men in their bedrooms accessing all sorts of material online" - are these the "new threat" to our security? That's how Sir Keir Starmer put it as he told us last week that "terrorism has changed". The government says it has no plans to change the definition of extremism. So, then what does need redefining? Or does the "new threat" fall into some other category that perhaps in the US they would call "school-shooter"? Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is indeed a misfit, an aberration, but even the most clearly defined terrorists often are. Sometimes they have mental health problems. Often there's a criminal background and a pattern of escalating violence in their lives. In 2017, Khalid Masood killed four people and injured 50 when he drove a car down the pavement of Westminster Bridge, before fatally stabbing a police officer who was protecting parliament. Masood was a known extremist and Islamic State claimed responsibility for his actions, but research by criminologists at Birmingham City University found Masood's history of violence was a means to assert his "manliness" and regain power that may have been lacking elsewhere in his life. He also had a previous knife crime conviction, often got into fights and researchers say that "there is evidence that within prison he wanted to kill someone". No one is quite sure how Masood was radicalised, probably in jail, but perhaps he was just looking for a reason to justify his desire to kill - and extremism provided it. There is an argument that in many cases ideology is a mask, or at least secondary in significance to a person's violent nature. Our definition of terrorism comes from the Terrorism Act of 2000 and is the use of threat of violence designed to influence government or intimidate the public for the purpose of a political, religious, racial or ideological cause. The Incel movement New and weird forms of ideology can potentially form a plank for terrorism. The Incel (involuntary celibate) movement is one, and it definitely falls into the "misfit" category. This sub-culture is focused on members's feeling that they are being denied their right to intimate relationships. A deadly attack in a Toronto massage parlour in 2020 by an Incel-inspired man was described as an act of terrorism by a judge in Canada. Research by Swansea University for the Commission for Counter Extremism said this phenomenon was more aligned to the need for mental health support rather than counter-terrorism interventions, and that is partly where debate lies now with Rudakubana. He did get mental health support after it was determined he had an autism spectrum disorder, but he stopped engaging with it two years ago. The well-publicised deficiency in our mental health services needs as much attention here as any alleged failure in the anti-terrorism Prevent system. 'More volatile would-be terrorists' In October 2024, the head of MI5 Ken McCallum made the point that it was becoming harder to determine whether an act of violence was ideologically motivated or driven by another factor like mental health. He said: "We're encountering more volatile would-be terrorists with only a tenuous grasp of the ideologies they profess to follow. People viewing both extreme right-wing and Islamist extremist instructional material, along with other bits of online hatred, conspiracy theories and disinformation." Mr McCallum described a "dizzying range" of beliefs, "pick-n-mix" ideologies, and a "crowd-sourced model" where people pull on hatred and misinformation from a multitude of mostly online sources. He said: "Today, an attacker may have no connections to other terrorists. They might not be on our records. And there's often no claim of responsibility." 160,000 documents seized in Rudakubana probe Rudakubana again fits into the 'pic-n-mix' classification. He had a copy of Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The al Qaeda Training Manual, but he also had documents about Nazi Germany and the Rwandan genocide. From 160,000 documents seized and examined, it was concluded he was simply obsessed with extreme violence, not a political or religious ideology. You could say violence was his ideology. In October 2017, when teenagers Thomas Wyllie and Alex Bolland were arrested for plotting to massacre fellow pupils at their school in Northallerton, their planned actions too did not conform to an ideology. The seeming act of terrorism committed by Emad al Swealmeen in November 2021, when he blew himself up in the back of a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, was eventually found to be motivated by a mix of anger over his failed asylum application and poor mental health. Prevent and its deradicalisation programme The Prevent programme, set up to stop the spread of terrorism in the UK, clearly is not ideal for these kinds of cases. Around 6,000 to 7,000 people are referred to it every year and only a few hundred are selected to go on a deradicalisation programme called Channel. This can't be a catch-all for anyone intent on mass murder. The number of people referred to Prevent with "conflicted" or no ideology has been growing and now makes up 36% of all referrals. Rudakubana fell into that category in the three times he was referred. The first came after he did online searches around mass shootings, the second because of posts he made on Instagram about Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, and the third when he was found to be researching the London Bridge attacks. In each case, a judgement was made that he did not require intervention. Read more from Sky News:Former social worker warns over 'holes in the system' 'Individuals pose a serious concern' Dame Sara Khan, the former counter-extremism czar, told Sky News: "There is no effective system in place to deal with such individuals and they will continue to pose a serious concern." It's hard to quantify the number of success stories from Prevent because, by definition, they lead to nothing happening. But Rudakubana is the fourth person known to the programme, who has gone on to commit an act that many would call terrorism. The others include Reading knife killer Khairi Saadallah, Parsons Green bomber Ahmed Hassan, and the man who murdered MP Sir David Amess. Ali Harbi Ali managed to convince people at Prevent that he was reformed, when, actually, he was becoming ever more devoted to Islamic State ideology, ever more obsessed with murdering a politician. His ideology and choice of a political target puts Ali Harbi Ali firmly in the terrorist bracket. But is it worth trying to glean an understanding of Rudakubana's motives from his choice of victims? After all, he is the second mass killer to target children enjoying pop music from a female artist. Like the Manchester bombing at Ariana Grande's concert, his was an attack on innocence. Perhaps the best explanation for this was from the woman taking the dance class, Leanne Lucus. She told Liverpool Crown Court: "He targeted us because we were women and girls - because we were vulnerable, easy prey." Add to this the Islamic State terror threat to a Taylor Swift concert in Austria last summer, it seems angry young men; be they Islamic terrorists, Incels, or misfit loners, often have a misogynistic streak, taking out their rage on women and girls. It's clear a new strategy is needed, and as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley told LBC, they can never stop every violent man. He added: "We need to be as good as possible at it and there are too many, young men, online, obsessing about this violent material. Some of that is how we intervene with individuals, some of that's about the rules for online material and what people can digest and watch." MI5 says the internet is becoming ever more central to terrorist activities - surely that is the frontline of this battle, and one that seems to be getting further out of control with tech bosses choosing not to monitor and regulate content. With easy access to whatever he wanted to watch, Rudakubana was able to curate and indulge his warped fantasy in his bedroom, until he was ready to inflict it on the softest of targets. Does that make him a terrorist or just a monster? A young girl who he attacked but miraculously survived, perhaps found the best word: "Coward."
Sky News
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
'Pick-n-mix' ideologies: Why violent motivations are becoming harder to define
"Loners and misfits and young men in their bedrooms accessing all sorts of material online" - are these the "new threat" to our security? That's how Sir Keir Starmer put it as he told us last week that "terrorism has changed". The government says it has no plans to change the definition of extremism. So, then what does need redefining? Or does the "new threat" fall into some other category that perhaps in the US they would call "school-shooter"? Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is indeed a misfit, an aberration, but even the most clearly defined terrorists often are. Sometimes they have mental health problems. Often there's a criminal background and a pattern of escalating violence in their lives. In 2017, Khalid Masood killed four people and injured 50 when he drove a car down the pavement of Westminster Bridge, before fatally stabbing a police officer who was protecting parliament. Masood was a known extremist and Islamic State claimed responsibility for his actions, but research by criminologists at Birmingham City University found Masood's history of violence was a means to assert his "manliness" and regain power that may have been lacking elsewhere in his life. He also had a previous knife crime conviction, often got into fights and researchers say that "there is evidence that within prison he wanted to kill someone". No one is quite sure how Masood was radicalised, probably in jail, but perhaps he was just looking for a reason to justify his desire to kill - and extremism provided it. There is an argument that in many cases ideology is a mask, or at least secondary in significance to a person's violent nature. Our definition of terrorism comes from the Terrorism Act of 2000 and is the use of threat of violence designed to influence government or intimidate the public for the purpose of a political, religious, racial or ideological cause. The Incel movement New and weird forms of ideology can potentially form a plank for terrorism. The Incel (involuntary celibate) movement is one, and it definitely falls into the "misfit" category. This sub-culture is focused on members's feeling that they are being denied their right to intimate relationships. A deadly attack in a Toronto massage parlour in 2020 by an Incel-inspired man was described as an act of terrorism by a judge in Canada. Research by Swansea University for the Commission for Counter Extremism said this phenomenon was more aligned to the need for mental health support rather than counter-terrorism interventions, and that is partly where debate lies now with Rudakubana. He did get mental health support after it was determined he had an autism spectrum disorder, but he stopped engaging with it two years ago. The well-publicised deficiency in our mental health services needs as much attention here as any alleged failure in the anti-terrorism Prevent system. 'More volatile would-be terrorists' In October 2024, the head of MI5 Ken McCallum made the point that it was becoming harder to determine whether an act of violence was ideologically motivated or driven by another factor like mental health. He said: "We're encountering more volatile would-be terrorists with only a tenuous grasp of the ideologies they profess to follow. People viewing both extreme right-wing and Islamist extremist instructional material, along with other bits of online hatred, conspiracy theories and disinformation." Mr McCallum described a "dizzying range" of beliefs, "pick-n-mix" ideologies, and a "crowd-sourced model" where people pull on hatred and misinformation from a multitude of mostly online sources. He said: "Today, an attacker may have no connections to other terrorists. They might not be on our records. And there's often no claim of responsibility." 160,000 documents seized in Rudakubana probe Rudakubana again fits into the 'pic-n-mix' classification. He had a copy of Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The al Qaeda Training Manual, but he also had documents about Nazi Germany and the Rwandan genocide. 3:19 From 160,000 documents seized and examined, it was concluded he was simply obsessed with extreme violence, not a political or religious ideology. You could say violence was his ideology. In October 2017, when teenagers Thomas Wyllie and Alex Bolland were arrested for plotting to massacre fellow pupils at their school in Northallerton, their planned actions too did not conform to an ideology. The seeming act of terrorism committed by Emad al Swealmeen in November 2021, when he blew himself up in the back of a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, was eventually found to be motivated by a mix of anger over his failed asylum application and poor mental health. Prevent and its deradicalisation programme The Prevent programme, set up to stop the spread of terrorism in the UK, clearly is not ideal for these kinds of cases. Around 6,000 to 7,000 people are referred to it every year and only a few hundred are selected to go on a deradicalisation programme called Channel. This can't be a catch-all for anyone intent on mass murder. The number of people referred to Prevent with "conflicted" or no ideology has been growing and now makes up 36% of all referrals. 1:38 Rudakubana fell into that category in the three times he was referred. The first came after he did online searches around mass shootings, the second because of posts he made on Instagram about Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, and the third when he was found to be researching the London Bridge attacks. In each case, a judgement was made that he did not require intervention. 'Individuals pose a serious concern' Dame Sara Khan, the former counter-extremism czar, told Sky News: "There is no effective system in place to deal with such individuals and they will continue to pose a serious concern." It's hard to quantify the number of success stories from Prevent because, by definition, they lead to nothing happening. But Rudakubana is the fourth person known to the programme, who has gone on to commit an act that many would call terrorism. The others include Reading knife killer Khairi Saadallah, Parsons Green bomber Ahmed Hassan, and the man who murdered MP Sir David Amess. Ali Harbi Ali managed to convince people at Prevent that he was reformed, when, actually, he was becoming ever more devoted to Islamic State ideology, ever more obsessed with murdering a politician. His ideology and choice of a political target puts Ali Harbi Ali firmly in the terrorist bracket. But is it worth trying to glean an understanding of Rudakubana's motives from his choice of victims? After all, he is the second mass killer to target children enjoying pop music from a female artist. Like the Manchester bombing at Ariana Grande's concert, his was an attack on innocence. Perhaps the best explanation for this was from the woman taking the dance class, Leanne Lucus. She told Liverpool Crown Court: "He targeted us because we were women and girls - because we were vulnerable, easy prey." Add to this the Islamic State terror threat to a Taylor Swift concert in Austria last summer, it seems angry young men; be they Islamic terrorists, Incels, or misfit loners, often have a misogynistic streak, taking out their rage on women and girls. It's clear a new strategy is needed, and as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley told LBC, they can never stop every violent man. He added: "We need to be as good as possible at it and there are too many, young men, online, obsessing about this violent material. Some of that is how we intervene with individuals, some of that's about the rules for online material and what people can digest and watch." MI5 says the internet is becoming ever more central to terrorist activities - surely that is the frontline of this battle, and one that seems to be getting further out of control with tech bosses choosing not to monitor and regulate content. With easy access to whatever he wanted to watch, Rudakubana was able to curate and indulge his warped fantasy in his bedroom, until he was ready to inflict it on the softest of targets. Does that make him a terrorist or just a monster? A young girl who he attacked but miraculously survived, perhaps found the best word: "Coward."
