A man has been arrested by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command as part of an investigation into online Islamist terrorist and anti-Semitic material.
The 20-year-old man was arrested in north London on Wednesday, 22 November on suspicion of encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of a terrorist publication – both relating to Islamist Terrorism online content.
He was also arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, which relates to anti-Semitic online content. The investigation predates the current Israel-Hamas conflict.
The man was initially stopped back in June 2023 during a Schedule 7 stop at Heathrow. During the stop, officers examined his electronic devices and they were subsequently seized and sent for further analysis, the results of which led to his arrest this week.
He was taken to a south London police station and has since been released on bail to a date in Feb 2024 pending further enquiries.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:
“While this investigation predates the current Israel-Hamas conflict, we know many people – particularly those in our Jewish communities – are concerned about certain material they may be seeing online. I hope this reassures the public that we will take action where people are breaking the law in this way. Anyone concerned about content that they think could be terrorist-related should report it to us.
“This arrest came about as a result of a schedule 7 stop at a port and these powers help us to keep the public and UK safe from terrorism. There is no place for hateful, terrorist ideology to be spread online and where we identify people who we believe to be committing offences, we will investigate and take action.”
If you have seen material online which you are concerned could be terrorist or extremist, please report it at: www.gov.uk/report-terrorism
Communities defeat terrorism, and information from the public is vital to our counter terrorism investigations. If you see or hear something unusual or suspicious and think someone may be engaging in terrorist activity, trust your instincts and ACT by reporting it in confidence at www.gov.uk/ACT or call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
