Just in case you haven’t heard enough about the Taylor Swift plot in Austria, here’s another article on the topic.
Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from the Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung:
Radicalized online
Terror teenagers were fans of these hate preachers
It is not only Taylor Swift fans — after the Vienna concert cancellation, disappointed but at least unharmed — who emulated their idol on various social media channels. Those young Islamists, who wanted to drag as many people as possible to their deaths, found their questionable role models on the Internet.
They had a “big plan” and wanted to kill as many unbelievers as possible. The alleged members of a terror cell who planned an attack on a Taylor Swift concert radicalized themselves online.
TikTok instead of basement mosque
Because instead of a backyard or basement mosque, TikTok and others are the new platforms that radical hate preachers use. In the case of the Swift terrorists, it was a Berlin Salafist, in particular, who is himself in the sights of authorities.
Abdul Baraa, real name Ahmad Armih, operated a mosque in the German capital. In the past, this mosque was raided and later closed due to suspicion of terror financing. The 51-year-old is one of the most influential online preachers, with tens of thousands following him on YouTube and TikTok.
Toxic messages allow terror plans to grow
“In his statements and his activities, Abdul Baraa spreads his Salafist worldview, which runs counter to free, democratic basic order. Moreover, in his sermons, he constructs a conspiracy by the Western world against Islam. Muslims are for him, basically, victims,” wrote the German Protection of the Constitution agency in a report.
These toxic messages, according to a report by Bild, may have also helped the terror plans to grow in the heads of those boys, who are expected to be remanded to pre-trial custody on Friday. The 19-year-old main suspect and the 17-year-old co-accused have been delivered to the Vienna Neustadt detention facility.
In the meantime, an 18-year-old has also been arrested, and a 15-year-old stopped and questioned. There is currently no suspicion against the latter; he is listed as a witness.
Islam influencers in the sights of authorities
In addition to Abdul Baraa, there are also other German Salafists active on TikTok and YouTube, among them Pierre Vogel and Ibrahim al-Azzazi, who calls himself, “Sheikh Ibrahim”.
In short clips they pretend to answer religious questions, but on closer inspection, the radical way of thinking of the Islamic influencers is clear. For example, in a documentary by the Y-Kollektif reporter, Selma Badawi, Ibrahim El-Azzazi refused to appear in the picture with her because she was unveiled.
Though the “Sheikh” does take occasional positions on current questions, such as which kind of iced tea is better, he otherwise stands out with his Stone Age rules of behavior. He is also already in the sights of German authorities and is currently facing trial for bodily injury and sexual abuse of his own wife, as Welt reports.
The former boxer Pierre Vogel has called the ISIS terrorists, among others, “freedom fighters” and is one of the most influential preachers in the German Salafist scene. Switzerland has already imposed a travel ban on him, and recently, Vogel claimed that Austria has imposed a similar ban on him.
According to his own statements, Vogel is one of the leading figures behind the Koran distribution campaign, “We love Mohammad”, a follow-up program to the “Lies” campaign, which was banned in Germany in 2016.