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TerrorismUnited Kingdom

UK: Two charged with right-wing terrorism offenses

Alex Berry
August 16, 2024

A man and a woman have been charged with planning a terrorist act after being arrested close to London. Police said the incident was not connected to the recent far-right riots.

https://p.dw.com/p/4jXDn
An armed police officer on patrol in Westminster
Police said they believed there was no further threat connected to the terrorism chargesImage: Vuk Valcic/Zuma/picture alliance

A young man, 18, and a young woman, 19, living in the UK have been charged with terrorism offenses, police said on Friday.

The police investigation that led to the charges centered on suspicions of extreme right-wing terrorist activity.

Both were charged with the preparation of terrorist acts while the 19-year-old was also charged with collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing such an act.

The investigation was not connected to the weeks of far-right rioting that have recently shaken the UK.

The woman was originally arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm, but was later released. The pair were then arrested together at an address in Cheshunt, just to the north of London.

The pair are due to appear in court on Friday.

No further threat, police say

"I want to reassure the public that at this time we do not believe that there is any wider threat related to this investigation, although our investigation very much continues," Dominic Murphy, head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism command, said.

"I also want to make clear that our investigation into this matter is not as a consequence of the disorder across the country which occurred following the terrible events in Southport," he added, referring to riots that were organized across several cities following the propagation of misinformation about the killing of three young girls.

'Hateful ideologies' ignored

The RUSI think tank said that the recent outbursts of violence could be explained by a "normalization of hateful ideologies" that have "simmered beneath the surface of society for years, often dismissed or ignored."

"The persistence and sometimes even active government stoking of anti-migrant rhetoric and sentiment in the UK is particularly concerning," the think tank said on Thursday.

"Despite previous incidents, such as the firebombing of a migrant processing center in Dover and other attacks on facilities housing asylum seekers, these threats have not been given the serious attention they deserve, which allows such sentiments to thrive and spread."

Far-right riots unsettle UK's Muslim community

Reuters news agency contributed to the report

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar