Authorities on Saturday identified the ISIS-sympathetic terrorist who stabbed at least five people in a New Zealand supermarket as a 32-year-old refugee who hated kiwis and reportedly heard songs about “drinking the blood of infidels.” ”- and had less than 24 hours of police surveillance after being released from prison two months before his outrage.
Sri Lankan-born Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen arrived in the island nation in 2011 and was granted refugee status for two years as a member of the Tamils, a persecuted minority group in Sri Lanka, according to the New Zealand Herald.
A psychologist described him as a “very distressed and damaged young man” who examined him while investigating his asylum claims, Canterbury Star News reports.
Officials believe he radicalized himself with ISIS propaganda online and discussed online his hatred of his adopted country, while posting support for ISIS, which left him on a terrorism watch list. in 2016.
“One day I will return to my country and find kiwi foam in my country … and show them … what will happen when you mess with S while I am in his country. If you are hard in your country … we are tougher in our country scouring #payback, “Samsudeen wrote on Facebook, The Sun reported.
Samsudeen had several problems with the law, including in 2017, when he was arrested at Auckland International Airport after booking a one-way ticket to Singapore, on suspicion of going to Syria to further his views or training. extremists, the Herald reported.
At his Queen Street apartment, police discovered disturbing violent material that included two dozen photographs of him taking a long-barreled air rifle with a telescopic lens and songs that tried to “drink the blood of the infidels.” inform The Sun.
Prosecutors initially accused him of planning a “lone wolf” terrorist attack, the BBC reported.
He was denied bail because of the risk involved and spent a year in prison, released after pleading guilty to minor charges, including possession of “restricted” materials.
He was jailed again in 2018 for buying a knife on bail and received a new slap when they found police, after authorities found more extremist materials in his home. It remained closed until July.
Since his release, police had been monitored 24 hours a day, sometimes with up to 30 officers in line, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters at a news conference on Friday.
Meanwhile, immigration officials began the Samsudeen boot process in 2018 and his case was still pending when he carried out his ill-fated Friday attack on New Lynn Countdown in Auckland.
“He went into the store, as he had done before. He got a knife from the store, “police commissioner Coster said.” Surveillance teams were as close as they could be to monitoring their activity. “
Special Tactics Group agents shot him dead in 60 seconds, but not before he had stabbed at least five people. Five of its six victims had stab wounds and three are in critical condition.
“We have used all available legal and surveillance powers to protect the people of this individual,” said Ardern, who has yet to explain why one of his country’s most dangerous extremists was not deported.
The high court’s decision to appoint him goes against New Zealand law, which protects the identifiers of people claiming refugee status. According to the Herald, the court in this case cited a significant public interest in the case.