Agents of the National Police have arrested an individual in Terrassa (Barcelona) for spreading jihadist postulates and threats against the Jewish and LGTBI community through social networks, where he had nearly 400,000 followers.
The arrested man, who “in recent days” had shown his desire to take action and “the search for knives and bulletproof vests accelerated”has entered prison after spending this Friday at the disposal of the National Court.
As reported by the Police, the arrested person used his profiles on social networks to incite jihad among Muslims in Europe with the aim of imposing Sharia or Islamic Law, in addition to continuous references of hatred against Jewish and LGTBI groups.
He is a Moroccan born in 1998, in an irregular situation in Spain and with a record of common crimes, according to police sources added to Europa Press.
The arrested man had nearly 400,000 followers and his content on social networks had almost four million likes, including messages in which he threatened to cut the throats of the enemies of Islam.
In recent months, according to the Police, he had hardened his radical discourse, “even encouraging terrorist attacks and making specific threats against other social media users who criticized him for his speeches.”
What’s more, the Police have detailed that “in the last days” The detainee had shown his desire to take action and “accelerated the search for knives and bulletproof vests.” Consequently, last Wednesday afternoon the corresponding police device was launched, carrying out, in addition to the arrest of the subject, a home search where the agents seized, among other things, numerous computer equipment and information.
The operation, which has been carried out jointly by the General Information Commission and the Provincial Information Brigades of Barcelona, Girona and Alicante, has been coordinated by the Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court and directed by the Central Court of Instruction number Two, who has ordered his entry into prison.
The investigation, which began at the end of 2022, had the collaboration of the General Directorate of Territorial Security of the Kingdom of Morocco (DGST), focusing on the individual now detained for his alignment with jihadist postulates.
He praised the Algeciras attack
The arrest has been carried out for his alleged participation in the crimes of glorification, indoctrination and terrorist threats, as well as in hate crimes. This is the third operation against jihadism since level 4 of the anti-terrorist alert was reinforced due to the context of war between Israel and Hamas.
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The investigation has proven that the detainee, who had internalized the radical and violent jihadist ideology and postulates, used his profiles on social networks to incite armed struggle, detecting express publications in favor of jihadist actions in Europe, especially in Spain, both in retaliation for the loss of Al-Andalus and praising the attack carried out in Algeciras on January 25.
He also made publications with continuous messages of hate against the LGTBI community and the Jewish community, even making specific threats against other social media users who criticized his speeches. Throughout the investigation it was found that His messages were having more and more impactn, reaching nearly 400,000 followers, who gave almost 4,000,000 “likes” to the messages he published.