A teenager accused of murdering three girls in Southport (England) has been charged separately with terrorism. Shortly before that, the police found a biological toxin and an al-Qaeda training manual in his house.
Sky News writes about it.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, had already been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder after the massacre at a Taylor Swift dance event in July.
He now faces two more charges related to evidence police obtained during a search of his home after the attacks.
In particular, we are talking about accusations of "production of a biological toxin, namely, ricin. Another charge is terrorism, namely, possession of information "which may be useful to a person who commits or prepares a terrorist act." The second allegation relates to a PDF file titled "Military Studies in Jihad Against Tyrants: An Al-Qaeda Study Guide" discovered during the search. At the same time, the police did not recognize the fact of the attack as a terrorist act.
Health officials added that there was no evidence of ricin poisoning at the dance event where the attack occurred, or that anyone was exposed to the toxin.
What preceded
On July 29, 2024, an attack occurred in a dance club in the British city of Southport. Three girls aged 6, 7 and 9 died, approximately 10 more people were injured.
On the same day, the Russian website Channel3 Now, posing as an American news agency, reported that the killer was 17-year-old illegal immigrant Ali al-Shaqati. This statement was then spread by conspiracy theorists and radical groups. Thousands of far-right Britons took to the streets — they smashed shop windows, burned buildings, attacked migrants and police officers. Dozens of citizens and law enforcement officers were injured.
On August 1, the real name of the suspect became known — it is a 17-year-old Briton of Rwandan origin, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana. He was born in Cardiff, south Wales.
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