Judge sentences Japanese man to death
for 2016 stabbing rampage
By Clyde Hughesfor 2016 stabbing rampage
March 16 (UPI) -- A Japanese district court Monday sentenced Satoshi Uematsu to death after finding him guilty in the 2016 stabbing deaths of 19 people at a facility for people with disabilities where he once worked.
The stabbing spree was one of Japan's worst mass murders since the end of World War II. Prosecutors accused Uematsu, 30, of breaking into the Tsukui Yamayurien Home in Sagamihara early July 26.
He tied up several staff members on duty before stabbing a total of 43 disabled residents. Many of those residents were still in their beds when they were attacked. Uematsu turned himself in shortly after the attacks still wearing bloody clothes and a blood-stained knife.
Defense attorneys said Uematsu had abused marijuana for several years and it altered his personality where he started to have delusions and hallucinations. They argued he was mentally incompetent and asked for acquittal or a lesser sentence.
Prosecutors said, though, Uematsu was competent enough to be held responsible for the rampage, saying he was motivated by working at the facility. They said he was motivated by wanting to "kill the disabled who cannot communicate."
Uematsu started working at the facility in 2012 and while he did not have any reported problems there, he had run-ins with the police, injuring a man in Tokyo in 2015. He was placed in an institution before the attack after writing a letter saying he had the "ability to kill 470 disabled people."
Authorities, though, failed to inform the facility when he was released in March 2016, just three months before the attack.
Good grief! Another story highlighting the insanity that sometimes follows marijuana use in teens or young adults. Someone should be held responsible for not informing the facility of his threats.
Six terrorists killed in Egypt's North Sinai
By: Egypt Today
CAIRO - 16 March 2020: Six terrorists were killed by Egyptian security forces in Abu Shilla city, North Sinai, said the Egyptian Ministry of Interior in a statement on Monday.
When the security forces stormed a hideout taken by the terrorists in the city, a shoot-out occurred between two sides and resulted in the killing of the six militants, the statement added.
On February 11, 2020, 17 terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with police forces in Obeidat district in Arish, North Sinai, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
This comes as part of the ministry’s continued efforts in tracking and prosecuting terrorist elements involved in hostile operations that claimed the lives of many martyrs among the armed forces, the police and ordinary people.
Unfortunately, there is no indication of the targets of these terrorists; they might be Muslim Brotherhood against the current Egyptian government; they might be Muslim hard-liners who attack Coptic Christians, or the might even be antisemitic. I suspect the first category is most likely here.
There is no indication from either raid of any prisoners taken. One wonders if this is policy?
Sinai Penn., Egypt
Terrorists block Russian-Turkish patrol
crossing in Idlib, Syria
Damascus, Mar 16 (Prensa Latina) Terrorist groups prevented on Monday for the second consecutive day the passage of military joint patrols between Russia and Turkey on the M-4 motorway connecting the Syrian cities of Aleppo in the north and Latakia on the coast.
Extremists dynamited the Muhambel bridge in Idlib province, and implanted metal nails to thwart the circulation of Russian and Turkish military vehicles, local press reported.
Sources indicated that dozens of armed irregular terrorists took civilians as hostages using them as human shields, and concentrated on the road where they installed tents to block traffic.
Russia denounced on Monday the presence of armed terrorist organizations with al-Qaida-like ideology as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and the Guardians of Religion, who refuse to recognize the cease-fire deal reached on March 5 between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Why should they if they are still being supplied with money and arms from another country, which I shall leave unnamed.
Hashem Abedi convicted in 2017 attack at
Ariana Grande concert
By Clyde Hughes
Flowers and other items form a makeshift memorial for the victims of a suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert
in central Manchester, Britain, on May 26, 2017. File Photo by Mushtaq Mohammed/UPI | License Photo
in central Manchester, Britain, on May 26, 2017. File Photo by Mushtaq Mohammed/UPI | License Photo
March 17 (UPI) -- A London court on Tuesday convicted a man in the terrorist attack that killed 22 concertgoers who'd gone to see singer Ariana Grande in Manchester nearly three years ago.
The court found Hashem Abedi guilty of being an accomplice in the suicide plot, which prosecutors say was carried out by his brother, Salman Abedi, as the crowd exited the concert at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017.
At trial, prosecutors said Abedi bought bomb-making chemicals, helped buy the vehicle where they were hidden and helped craft the detonator tubes. They argued that his activities made him as responsible for the attack as his brother.
"He is a man who is equally responsible as his brother for this horrendous attack, this monstrous attack," Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough said. "The way he has conducted himself since he landed demonstrates, even more, the jihadi mindset that would be supportive of the sick ideology of [the Islamic State]."
Although Abedi was in Libya at the time of the attack, investigators said his DNA and fingerprints were in the locations where the bombs were made.
Abedi, who'd fired his defense team, was not in court Tuesday when the verdict was read. He pleaded not guilty to the charges last October.
29 killed in terror attack in Mali, military says
By Don Jacobson
U.N. peacekeepers secure an area in the Timbuktu Region of Mali, on May 6, 2019.
File Photo by Nicolas Remene/EPA-EFE
The Armed Forces of Mali said the attack occurred Thursday in the village of Takrint, located about 100 miles north of the regional capital and 300 miles east of Timbuktu.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Islamic extremists who have been active in northern Africa's Sahel region in recent years are suspected.
Thursday's attack follows a string of others carried out by militants associated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State, which have staged an insurgency in the former French colony and the surrounding countries of Niger and Burkina Faso.
Earlier this month, six other Malian soldiers were killed in a rocket attack and last month three troops died at an army camp south of Timbuktu. Fifty soldiers were killed in another attack last November.
The U.S. military said last month a coalition loyal to al-Qaida has about 2,000 fighters in the Sahel, while the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is thought to have hundreds and is recruiting more in northeastern Mali.
The region remains highly unstable despite a French-led United Nations intervention in 2013.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said last month he was willing to open talks with militant groups after seven years of refusing to do so. The al-Qaida-affiliated jihadist group GSIM, or Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, responded that it would negotiate only if French troops and the U.N. mission left Mali.
Counter terror swoop: Batemans Bay, NSW, man charged over alleged bomb plot
South Coast Register
JCTT officers swarm over a Tapitallee property on Friday. Photo: John Hanscombe
The 23-year-old Batemans Bay man was arrested outside Nowra Police Station on Sunday, March 15, after hunting knives and survivalist equipment were found in the car he was driving.
He was detained under specified time provisions of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) as members of the JCTT conducted enquiries into his links to a 21-year-old Sanctuary Point man, who was charged with a terrorism offence on the same day.
The Batemans Bay man was charged with one count of acts done in preparation for, or planning, terrorist acts, on Friday, March 20. This offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
He was also charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, contrary to Section 7(1) of the Prohibited Firearms Act 1996 (Cth).
Police will allege in court that the 23-year-old man was involved in early-stage planning and preparation for a terrorist act.
It will further be alleged he was working with the Sanctuary Point man to acquire military equipment, including firearms and other items capable of making improvised explosive devices.
During a search of the man's Catalina home, police seized electronic items, hunting knives, survivalist equipment and a replica firearm.
An initial forensic examination of the electronic items uncovered a large quantity of extreme right-wing and anti-government material.
Further search warrants on properties at Sanctuary Point, Falls Creek and Tapitallee - all located near Nowra - between Thursday, March 19 and Saturday, March 21, resulted in the seizure of items that could be used in the construction of an improvised explosive device, electronic devices and other material which will be subjected to further examination.
These locations were of interest to JCTT investigators due to possible links to both men charged as part of this investigation.
The 23-year-old man is expected to face Nowra Local Court later today. Investigations by the NSW JCTT remain ongoing.
The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team is comprised of the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police Force, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and NSW Crime Commission.
Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you may think the information may be.
The National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400.
Rapides, La, Sheriff’s Deputies charge writer of false COVID-19 social media post with terrorism
..
When stupidity becomes a criminal offence
by: James SelbyRAPIDES PARISH, La. (KLFY) — A Forest Hill man was arrested by Rapides Parish sheriff’s deputies after sending out an email that officials said promoted false information.
Waylon Allen Bailey, 27, of Forest Hill was the alleged author of a social media post that said:
SHARE SHARE SHARE ! ! ! ! JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE HAVE ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH “THE INFECTED’ SHOOT ON SIGHT….Lord have mercy on us all. #Covid9teen #weneedyoubradpit
Bailey was located near his residence and taken into custody without incident. He was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center in reference to one count of terrorism. Bailey is currently being detained at the detention center as bond has yet to be set.
Sheriff William Earl Hilton said he would like to again impress upon everyone that we are all in this together. Communicating false information to alarm or cause other serious disruptions to the general public will not be tolerated.
Pakistani doctor arrested in Minnesota
on terrorism charge
By Associated PressMINNEAPOLIS — A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator was arrested Thursday in Minnesota on a terrorism charge, after prosecutors say he told paid FBI informants that he had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group and wanted to carry out lone wolf attacks in the United States.
Muhammad Masood, 28, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday by FBI agents and was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Prosecutors say Masood was in the U.S. on a work visa. They allege that starting in January, Masood made several statements to paid informants — whom he believed were members of the Islamic State group — pledging his allegiance to the group and its leader. He also allegedly expressed his desire to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS and a desire to carry out lone wolf attacks in the U.S.
At one point, Masood messaged an informant “there is so much I wanted to do here .. .lon wulf stuff you know … but I realized I should be on the ground helping brothers sisters kids,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Prosecutors say Masood bought a plane ticket on Feb. 21 to travel from Chicago to Amman, Jordan, and then planned to go to Syria from there. He had planned to leave at the end of March. But on March 16, he had to change his travel plans because Jordan closed its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic. Masood and one of the informants then developed a plan for him to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to meet with that informant, whom Masood believed would help him travel in a cargo ship into Islamic State territory.
Masood was arrested Thursday at the airport after he checked in for his flight to Los Angeles. His attorney, Manny Atwal, had no immediate comment.
There is much more on this story at Albert Lea Tribune
Miss Hitler beauty queen convicted of membership to a homophobic neo-Nazi terrorist organisation
LILY WAKEFIELD MARCH 20, 2020
Alice Cutter once entered a Miss Hitler beauty pageant. (West Midlands Police)
A former contestant in a Miss Hitler beauty pageant has been convicted of membership of banned neo-Nazi racist, homophobic, anti-semitic terrorist group National Action.
National Action was founded in 2013, and in 2016 the group was banned under the Terrorism Act 2000, making it the first far right group to be proscribed under the act since the Second World War.
According to the Home Office: “The group is virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. Its ideology promotes the idea that Britain will inevitably see a violent ‘race war’, which the group claims it will be an active part of.”
Through material disseminated on social media, National Action has celebrated the Pulse massacre and the murder of MP Jo Cox. They have also called for the reintroduction Section 28, banning the “promotion of homosexuality” in schools.
Alice Cutter, 23, was convicted on March 19 of being a member of the neo-Nazi group along with her partner 24-year-old Mark Jones, both from Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge, Halifax.
Two other members were also convicted on the same day: Garry Jack, 24, from Heathland Avenue, Shard End, Birmingham, and Connor Scothern, 19, of Bagnall Avenue, Nottingham.
All four were members of the Midland Chapter of National Action. Two members of the same chapter were sentenced to eight years in prison in 2018.
Alice Cutter and her partner Mark Jones were both convicted of being members of National Action.
(West Midlands Police)
Cutter previously entered a Miss Hitler pageant under the name Buchenwald Princess, a reference to the Nazi death camp. She met Jones through the Miss Hitler pageant, but they broke up before the trial.
Although Cutter denied being a part of the group, it was revealed that she had exchanged hundreds of messages with other members and was still attending meetings months after National Action was banned.
According to the Salisbury Journal, prosecutors said Cutter had been a “central spoke” of the organisation, and had made jokes about using a Jewish person’s head as a football and gassing synagogues.
Cutter also denied attending a National Action demonstration in York in 2016, but footage was later found showing her there giving the Nazi salute and standing behind a banner that read “Hitler was right”.
Alice Cutter. (West Midlands Police)
After the conviction, head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit (WMCTU), Detective Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell said: “National Action is an extreme right wing neo-Nazi group.
“Their ambition is to prepare for a race war by amassing weapons and trying to recruit others by the spread of their extreme ideology. Being convicted of membership of this extreme right terrorist group is the same as belonging to other terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda or Daesh.”
He continued: “This group was amassing weapons and recipes for bomb-making. They communicated through secret channels to recruit others to their cause. Left unchecked they presented a real threat to the public.
“We have seen a significant increase of right-wing referrals to our Prevent programme and we will investigate the threat as robustly as we would any other terrorist group, as well as training our officers on the signs to look out for and working with communities to increase awareness.
“Terrorists and extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this. I would encourage people to report hate crime to us and it will be taken seriously.”
The convicted National Action members have not yet been sentenced.
Feds seek significant prison time for Zion men
convicted in terrorism case
By Jon Seidel Mar 20, 2020
Joseph D. Jones (left) and Edward Schimenti caught on camera with a confidential FBI source prosecutors say
they believed was an ISIS supporter. Prosecutors blurred the source’s face. U.S. District Court filing
Federal prosecutors are seeking significant prison time for a pair of Zion men found guilty at the end of a lengthy trial last year of a conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State.
Edward Schimenti and Joseph D. Jones are set to be sentenced next month by U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood. The sentencings could still be delayed by the coronavirus outbreak, but federal prosecutors filed a 26-page memo Thursday in anticipation of the hearings.
The feds are seeking a 20-year prison sentence for Schimenti and a 17-year prison sentence for Jones. They said Schimenti deserved more time behind bars because he lied to the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas in the memo described the conduct of Jones and Schimenti as “egregious and dangerous.” He wrote they were fully aware of the “murderous acts” committed by the Islamic State but “did not hesitate to provide support to the group.”
However, when the government intervened, Jonas noted, “They were not actively plotting to either travel to join ISIS, looking to facilitate travel for others, or to commit a terrorist attack in the United States. On the spectrum of comparable terrorism cases, the government does not believe a statutory maximum sentence is warranted.”
Prosecutors unveiled a 77-page criminal complaint in April 2017 that accused the pair of sharing gruesome Islamic State videos online, fantasizing about the ISIS flag “on top of the White House,” and, crucially, collecting cellphones they thought could be used as detonators by terrorists overseas.
The pair met a man who turned out to be a confidential informant for the FBI. They helped him collect the cellphones, introduced him to an undercover fed they believed would get him overseas, and then drove the man to O’Hare Airport to begin his journey on April 7, 2017.
“To be perfectly clear,” Jonas wrote in the memo Thursday, “the defendants believed that every phone equaled a bomb and each bomb would bring harm to enemies of ISIS. They showed no compassion for their intended victims or their families.”
No comments:
Post a Comment