A 16-year-old Singaporean boy, a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity, was detained final month underneath the Inner Safety Act (ISA) after planning to make use of a machete to assault Muslims at two mosques in March, on the anniversary of New Zealand’s Christchurch assaults.
Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com.
{The teenager}, who was not named, is the youngest individual to be handled underneath the ISA for terrorism-related actions, the Inner Safety Division (ISD) stated in a media launch on Wednesday.
He’s the primary detainee within the city-state to be impressed by far-right extremist ideology, the channel Information Asia reported, citing the ISD launch.
The ISD said that the teenager was influenced by the 2019 terror assaults at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand during which 51 folks had been killed.
The teenager had deliberate to hold out his assaults on March 15 this 12 months, on the anniversary of the Christchurch assaults.
“He was self-radicalised, motivated by a powerful antipathy in the direction of Islam and a fascination with violence,” the ISD stated.
He watched the livestream video of the terrorist assault on the 2 mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, and browse the manifesto of the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist, it stated.
“He had additionally watched Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda movies, and got here to the misguided conclusion that ISIS represented Islam, and that Islam known as on its followers to kill non-believers,” it stated.
Earlier than the assault in March 2019, Tarrant, an Australian, had put up on-line posts that contained anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and proper wing extremist views. He had mounted a digital camera on his head, and live-streamed the assault. He obtained a life sentence in August 2020.
The ISD stated it was “clear” from the teenager’s assault plans and preparation that he was influenced by Tarrant’s actions and manifesto.
First, he deliberate to hold out his assaults on March 15 this 12 months, the anniversary of the Christchurch assaults, it stated.
He selected Assyafaah mosque and Yusof Ishak mosque as his targets as a result of they had been close to his residence, the ISD stated, including that he carried out on-line reconnaissance and analysis utilizing Google Maps and Avenue View on each mosques to arrange for the assaults.
In keeping with the ISD at a media briefing, the teenager initially thought of An-Nur mosque as a substitute of Yusof Ishak mosque, however the latter was deemed nearer to Assyafaah mosque. He deliberate his journey route, recognized mosque entrances and the place to park his automobile, the ISD stated.
To organize himself for the knife assault, the teenager watched YouTube movies, it stated, and was assured of hitting the arteries of his targets by randomly slashing at their neck and chest areas.
On the time of his arrest, the teenager had discovered his alternative of machete on Carousell and added it to his favorite listings, however had not purchased it but, it added.
In keeping with the itemizing, the Smith & Wesson machete price SGD 190. He had supposed to save lots of up for the acquisition and was assured of doing so in time for the supposed assaults, ISD stated.
Just like what Tarrant did, the 16-year-old pupil had supposed to drive between the 2 mosques and deliberate to pay money for a automobile to be used through the assaults, in keeping with the channel report.
He was cognisant of the necessity to journey rapidly between the assault websites, in keeping with ISD, including that he had supposed to steal his father’s bank card to hire a BlueSG after figuring out a car-sharing station close to his residence.
Earlier than deciding on the machete as his assault weapon, the ISD stated his “unique plan” was to make use of an assault rifle just like that utilized by Tarrant.
The teenager managed to discover a potential vendor through Telegram, however didn’t comply with via after suspecting it was a rip-off when the vendor requested for cost in Bitcoin.
He additionally checked the arms and explosives licence necessities, and thought of becoming a member of the Singapore Rifle Affiliation.
“He nonetheless continued to seek for firearms on-line, and solely gave up the thought when he realised that it will be tough to get his palms on one given Singapore’s strict gun-control legal guidelines,” the ISD stated.
The teenager additionally explored making a triacetone triperoxide (TATP) bomb, and setting fireplace to the mosques utilizing gasoline.
“He finally dropped each concepts attributable to logistical and private security considerations,” the ISD stated.
In additional imitation of Tarrant, ISD stated the teenager had ready two paperwork that he wished to disseminate previous to his assaults.
The primary was a message to the folks of France, which he drafted after the assault towards Christians in a church in Good in October final 12 months.
The second doc, which ISD stated was nonetheless unfinished when he was arrested, was a manifesto detailing his hatred for Islam and his perception that “violence ought to by no means be solved with peace”.
The ISD stated the detailed planning and preparation attested to the teenager’s dedication to comply with via along with his assault plan.
Chatting with reporters, Legislation and Residence Affairs Minister Ok Shanmugam stated it was “fairly chilling” to listen to the teenager saying this to ISD officers.
“He went in totally ready, understanding that he’s going to die, and he was ready to die,” he added.
In keeping with ISD, investigations to date point out that the youth had acted alone, with no indication that he tried to affect anybody along with his excessive outlook or contain others in his assault plans.
The company added that it obtained intelligence final November a few Singapore-based particular person who wished to assault Muslims in Singapore. The teenager was arrested underneath the ISA on November 26 and issued with a detention order on December 23.
