Recent violent attacks by radicalised mentally ill people are ‘impossible to distinguish’ from terrorism, a new report has warned.
The European police agency Europol said that incidents carried out by mentally ill people who have been influenced by hate speech and fake news could be classed as terrorism in its European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report released today.
A section entitled ‘Mental Health and Terrorism’ stated: ‘… an increase in hate speech and threats, for example against public figures, and fake news on social media may lead people who are mentally unstable or easily influenced to commit acts of ideologically motivated violence that could be characterised as terrorism.’
One example mentioned was the trial of a man who stabbed several people in The Hague, in the Netherlands, on May 5, 2018
The court held that there was no terrorist motive and that the perpetrator’s actions were the result of a psychotic disorder.
Recent violent attacks by radicalised mentally ill people are ‘impossible to distinguish’ from terrorism, a new report by Europol has warned. Gokmen Tanis (above), 38, who shot four people dead on a tram in Utrecht, Netherlands, on March 18, 2019, was convicted for terrorism – but his personality disorder played an important part in motivating him to carry out the attack
Dutch special police forces inspect the tram in Utrecht after Tanis opened fire in the public transport carriage and killed three people
According to the judgment, his radical and extremist thoughts ‘were prompted’ by his paranoid psychosis. The case had previously been treated as a terrorist incident.
Meanwhile, Gokmen Tanis, 38, who shot four people dead on a tram in Utrecht, also in the Netherlands, on March 18, 2019, was convicted for terrorism – but his personality disorder played an important part in motivating him to carry out the attack.
The 97-page report comes as the EU police agency today warned that the coronavirus lockdowns could also radicalise more terror suspects – saying both right- and left-wing violence were on the rise.
Unveiling the report today, Europol director Catherine De Bolle said that the pandemic’s worldwide economic and social impacts could escalate existing discontents.
‘These developments have the potential to further fuel the radicalisation of some individuals, regardless of their ideological persuasion,’ De Bolle noted.
Europol also warned of an increase in attacks by right-wing extremists. One of the worst attacks was the shooting at a synagogue in the Germany city of Halle last October in which two people were killed by 27-year-old Stephan Balliet (pictured)
Jewish leaders say the attacker tried to get into the synagogue in Halle during prayers for Yom Kippur, but were stopped by ‘security measures’. A woman was then shot dead in the street outside (pictured, the attacker shooting at a car)
‘Activists both on the extreme left and right and those involved in jihadist terrorism attempt to seize the opportunity the pandemic has created to further propagate their aims.’
The report said Islamist terror attacks in Europe had decreased, mainly due to better law enforcement, with only seven ‘completed or failed’ jihadist attacks in 2019.
However Europol warned of an increase in attacks by right-wing extremists, partly inspired by attacks such as the 2019 attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.
‘While many right-wing extremist groups across the EU have not resorted to violence, they contribute to a climate of fear and animosity against minority groups,’ De Bolle said.
‘Such a climate, built on xenophobia, hatred for Jews and Muslims and anti-immigration sentiments, may lower the threshold for some radicalised individuals to use violence against people’.
Last year, three EU member states reported a total of six right-wing attacks of which one was completed, as opposed to only one the year before.
One of the worst attacks was the shooting at a synagogue in the Germany city of Halle last October in which two people were killed
There were 26 left-wing and anarchist attacks in Europe, mainly in Italy, Greece and Spain – a similar number to two years ago after a drop in 2018.
But the number of arrests on suspicion of left-wing or anarchist terrorist offences more than tripled, compared to previous years, Europol added, with the majority linked to violent demonstrations and confrontations with Italian police.