UPDATE: The Independent has taken down this story, suggesting that the attacker may not have been Abu Izzadeen. Apparently Abu Izzadeen’s solicitor is saying he is still in prison. More updates will come when the situation becomes clearer.
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British authorities didn’t think he meant it, or if they did, they assumed that appeasement and accommodation of Muslim communities, plus persecution of foes of jihad terror, would solve the problem. That was always wrongheaded and doomed to failure.
“Abu Izzadeen: Man behind London terror attack called for murder of police and politicians,” by Andrew Griffin, Independent, March 22, 2017:
Abu Izzadeen, who was born Trevor Brooks, has been named as the man who drove a car into the Houses of Parliament and attempted to attack police officers.
His views were far from secret: videos of him can be seen across YouTube, in which he rants about how important it is to kill the police and how everyone in Parliament are kufar, or infidels.
Izzadeen has long been known to authorities for his links to terrorism. He has been to prison for fund-raising, inciting and glorifying acts of terror in the past, and has been active in now banned groups.
But Izzadeen was born in Hackney in east London and named Trevor Brooks. He converted to Islam just before he turned 18, in 1993, originally changing his name to Omar but preferring to be known by Abu Izadeen.
He is thought to have been radicalised after he met other famous islamists Omar Bakri Muhammed and Abu Hamza al-Misri at Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s. From there, his engagement with terror appeared to grow – he praised the 7/7 suicide bombers and expressed his hope that he too could die a suicide bomber.
He shot to some measure of fame after he interrupted a speech by then-home secretary John Reid. That speech, Mr Reid’s first public meeting with Muslims, was interrupted by Izzadeen’s shouting that Mr Reid was an enemy of Islam….