Young people from North Rhine-Westphalia arrested on suspicion of terrorism – News – WDR – News

Three teenagers out NRW were arrested on suspicion of terrorism: a 15-year-old girl from Düsseldorf, a 16-year-old girl from the Märkischer district and a 15-year-old boy from the Soest district. According to the Attorney General’s Office, they have been in custody since the Easter weekend on suspicion of terrorism. They are said to have planned terrorist attacks in Baden-Württemberg together with a 16-year-old from Ostfildern (Esslingen district). The teenager from Ostfildern was also taken into custody.

What was planned?

According to previous investigations, the young people are, “strongly suspected of having seriously conspired to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack“, said Holger Heming from the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office to the WDR. According to investigators, they are said to have agreed to commit a crime – murder and manslaughter – in conjunction with the preparation of a serious act of violence that would endanger the state. People were thinking about attacks with knives and Molotov cocktails on people in churches or police officers in police stations.

Where should the attack take place? How specific were the plans?

According to the investigators, there was not yet an exact plan of the attack with a time and location. However, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne were discussed as attack cities. NRW Interior Minister Reul said that “Christian institutions and synagogues in Iserlohn in focus“confessed.

It is currently unclear how great the risk was that the young people would put their plans into action. The criminal psychologist Christian Lüdke said: “From the point where I just have this fantasy, where I have the plans, to the actual implementation, it’s just a very small step. It is said in psychology: ‘Thinking is testing action.’ So that means that if I just discuss and discuss such scenarios over and over again, then it is already very concrete – and then all it takes is often just one reason, one trigger. And then this diabolical plan is put into action.”

How did the investigators track down the young people?

NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) described the course of the investigation on Friday in Düsseldorf: According to this, the state security in Hagen initially investigated a 16-year-old from Iserlohn because she was planning to leave the country. She was in contact with a 15-year-old German-Moroccan girl in Düsseldorf. While evaluating confiscated smartphones, investigators came across another chat with other participants. Terrorist attack plans were discussed in this chat.

The investigators from Hagen and Düsseldorf then worked with the State Criminal Police Office to identify the other chat participants. This includes a 16-year-old from Iserlohn who, as Reul said, “no stranger to the police” was because she had already been investigated for her intentions to leave the country. This was about leaving for the so-called Islamic State “with the intention of fighting” gone.

According to Reul’s account, two further chat participants were identified through a nationwide exchange between the security authorities: a 15-year-old from Lippstadt (Soest district) and a 16-year-old from Ostfildern in Baden-Württemberg. The 15-year-old from Lippstadt appears, Reul said expressly “conditional“, the “driving force behind the attack plans” to be.

What was found during the searches?

During the searches, “storage media” was seized and is now being evaluated. Chat protocols in particular would play a role. A machete and a dagger were also seized from the suspect in Düsseldorf. No evidence of the construction of incendiary devices was discovered.

Have young people become radicalized on the Internet? What role did the family environment play?

As the dpa news agency reported with reference to security circles, Islamist influencers also played a role. These are now aimed specifically at young people. The father of the Düsseldorf suspect is also said to be known to the police. According to “Bild”, he was investigated years ago on suspicion of financing terrorism. He is said to have collected donations for IS.

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said that it is probably not “the one answer” give. But as “Attempted explanation“He assumed that the young people had probably become radicalized on the Internet through extremist propaganda. Social media played a big role in this. In addition to better media education, Reul also suggested thinking about whether the state should intervene more in a regulatory manner. But that too Parental home and the upbringing of young people played an important role.

How does it go from here?

The Central Office for the Prosecution of Terrorism in North Rhine-Westphalia (ZenTer NRW) at the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office had applied for arrest warrants against the three young people. The Düsseldorf District Court issued the arrest warrants on the Easter weekend. The suspects have been in custody since then.

How long did the investigation take?

NRW Interior Minister Reul praised the security authorities for their quick and good work. He emphasized that there were only five days between the first findings and the last arrest and that it was the Easter weekend.

Investigators previously said that this time foreign secret services had “didn’t really play a role“.

Have there been similar cases recently?

It was only in November that two 15 and 16-year-old teenagers were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They were said to have sympathized with IS and planned a Christmas market attack with a vehicle. They were taken into custody in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. No fuel was found during searches. But it has a “very concrete thought model“was used to plan the crime, the public prosecutor’s office said at the time.

Transparency note: The public prosecutor’s office initially incorrectly communicated the age and gender of the arrested young people from the Märkischer Kreis and the Soest district. After correcting the press release, we also adjusted our text.

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