Terror suspect in murder of British MP David Amess identified (Prepare yourself for a Shock!)

[Valin]

Times Of Israel

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, a British citizen and the son of a former Somali government official, was arrested at the crime scene; was not previously known to the British security forces

TOI staff and Agencies

Oct. 17 2021

The suspect being held by UK police on suspicion of the terrorist murder of MP David Amess is named Ali Harbi Ali, British media reported on Saturday evening.

Local reports said the suspect is a 25-year-old British citizen with Somali heritage, who is not thought to have been previously known to the security services.

However, Ali had been referred to Prevent, the UK’s counter-terrorist scheme for those thought at risk of radicalization a few years ago, the BBC reported. Ali is believed not have spent long on the program, which is voluntary in nature, and was never formally a “subject of interest” to MI5, the domestic security agency, said the BBC.

Police and security services believe the attacker acted alone and was “self-radicalized,” The Sunday Times reported, while he may have been inspired by Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists in Somalia.

(Snip)

[SDwaters]

Ah yes . . . the religion of pieces (from bombs, knives, swords . . . )

[Valin]

The myth of lone-wolf terrorism

Would David Amess still be alive if someone had spoken up?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Oct. 20 2021

My heart sank twice last week: first when I heard about the brutal murder of Sir David Amess; and again when I started to read some of the disturbing commentary about the 25-year-old arrested on suspicion of carrying out the attack.

For many, the ethnicity and heritage of Ali Harbi Ali were wholly irrelevant to his alleged behaviour. Acknowledging that Ali is of Somali background, we were told, is racist and xenophobic. He must only be identified as British.

As someone who was born in Somalia, I find this absurd. Of course a suspect is not a murderer because he has a Somali background. But denouncing facts as racist — especially when the person in question was referred to Prevent, and police and security services believe he may have been inspired by al-Shabaab in Somalia — forces a dangerous ignorance on the public.

Yet it is just one of a number of fallacies that continue to dominate almost every discussion about Islamist-driven terrorism — fallacies that are promoted by both the media and British authorities. Indeed, it strikes me that our efforts to counter Islamist attacks are hindered by at least three other misconceptions: our insistence on describing a perpetrator as a “lone wolf”, our obsession with online self-radicalisation, and the idea that “all extremisms are created equal”.

(Snip)