14-year-old accused of plotting a terroristic act using an axe.
Austrian authorities confiscate weapons and data carriers with IS pamphlets from a 14-year-old's home. The girl was planning an assault on "non-believers" using knives and an axe. She's now in custody.
In Graz, Austrian police detained a 14-year-old girl allegedly planning a "terrorist knife assault" in the city center. The Styrian regional police authority revealed that they seized "apparatus for the assault" and relevant propaganda content from this minor, containing weaponry and propaganda materials from ISIS. They monitored her online chats to track her down.
The Institute for State Protection and Counter-Extremism (LSE) was informed by an international security organization about the minor from Montenegro. She had already obtained a hatchet and a knife for the assault, as well as outfits for the attack which she sent via messenger to supposed "like-minded" individuals abroad.
The girl's aim was to attack "non-believers", according to the police. Enforcers took the intended murder tools and numerous data carries during their search. A preliminary inspection showed that the 14-year-old possessed various ISIS propaganda along with numerous combat and execution videos. The data carries are being further analyzed.
When questioned, the girl, accompanied by a parent/guardian and a defense attorney, is reported to have not confessed to the charges. With judicial consent, a warrant for arrest and incarceration was issued by the Graz Public Prosecutor's Office. Due to her alleged propensity for violence and the possibility of concealing the crime, she is now remanded in detention.
In their announcement, the police referred to the "evident trend toward radicalization in the digital world". Minors are "highly sensitive to this type of extremist propaganda", according to Austrian news agency APA. Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner commented that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution aims to systematically combat all strains of extremism. In Graz, according to him, "an extremist attack was thwarted".
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The Austrian police also uncovered evidence of the teenager's connection to Islamist terrorist groups, as they found ISIS propaganda materials among her possessions. Following the seizure, Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner emphasized the country's commitment to combat all forms of extremism, highlighting the case as an example of thwarted extremist attacks.
Source: www.ntv.de
