LONDON: The British government’s counter-terrorism strategy will treat hate preachers as a “priority threat” as concerns rise about a revival of Islamist terrorism.
Ministers are preparing to instruct counter-terrorism officials to monitor and “disrupt” the activities of those who “promote fear and division” without committing terrorist acts, British newspaper the Daily Telegraph has reported.
The move could lead to officials and police attempting to prevent certain extremists from giving out material on the streets and holding large events, and challenging them when they speak in public, a former counter-terrorism officer suggested.
The decision comes after a review by the government’s extremism commissioner, Sara Khan, and the former head of counter-terrorism policing, Sir Mark Rowley, warned that many “hateful extremists” who are not carrying out terrorist activities are able to operate with “impunity,” the newspaper reported.
It said that extremists were “creating a ‘chilling’ impact on freedom of expression,” and singled out Cage, an advocacy group whose “senior leaders have advocated supporting violent jihad overseas.”
The review accused the group of attempting to label efforts to counter extremism as Islamophobic.
However, the government is believed to have rejected a separate recommendation by the review that ministers should expand current criminal offenses relating to stirring up hatred.
“There will be a new flexibility to take on groups and ideologies that do not meet the terrorism threshold but contribute to the wider environment in which terrorism can get a foothold, including those that promote fear, division and alienation from democracy and the rule of law,” the paper quoted a Whitehall source as saying.
The approach is likely to encourage anti-extremism officials to intervene over hateful extremism even when there is no evidence of a link to terrorism.
Currently, the government’s anti-extremism program focuses on preventing people from being drawn into terrorism.
Officials also fear that a resurgence of Islamist extremism could be behind the rise in anti-Semitism in the UK.
Ministers are understood to have agreed a new way of dealing with extremist groups under existing legislation, which includes focusing resources on “disrupting” those who are seen to create an environment which can lead to terror.
Hate preachers in the UK to be treated as ‘priority threat’ amid extremism resurgence concerns
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Hate preachers in the UK to be treated as ‘priority threat’ amid extremism resurgence concerns
- Approach likely to encourage anti-extremism officials to intervene over hateful extremism even when there is no evidence of a link to terrorism
Federal agents must limit tear gas for now at protests outside Portland ICE building, judge says
- The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists covering demonstrations at the flashpoint US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building
PORTLAND, Oregon: A judge in Oregon on Tuesday temporarily restricted federal officers from using tear gas at protests at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, just days after agents launched gas at a crowd of demonstrators including young children that local officials described as peaceful.
US District Judge Michael Simon ordered federal officers not to use chemical or projectile munitions on people who pose no imminent threat of physical harm, or who are merely trespassing or refusing to disperse. Simon also limited federal officers from firing munitions at the head, neck or torso “unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person.”
Simon, whose temporary restraining order is in effect for 14 days, wrote that the nation “is now at a crossroads.”
“In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated,” he wrote. “In helping our nation find its constitutional compass, an impartial and independent judiciary operating under the rule of law has a responsibility that it may not shirk.”
Ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Oregon
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists covering demonstrations at the flashpoint US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
The suit names as defendants the Department of Homeland Security and its head Kristi Noem, as well as President Donald Trump. It argues that federal officers’ use of chemical munitions and excessive force is a retaliation against protesters that chills their First Amendment rights.
The Department of Homeland Security said federal officers have “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.”
“DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
Courts consider question of tear gas use
Cities across the country have seen demonstrations against the administration’s immigration enforcement surge.
Last month, a federal appeals court suspended a decision that prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota who aren’t obstructing law enforcement. An appeals court also halted a ruling from a federal judge in Chicago that restricted federal agents from using certain riot control weapons, such as tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary to prevent an immediate threat. A similar lawsuit brought by the state is now before the same judge.
The Oregon complaint describes instances in which the plaintiffs — including a protester known for wearing a chicken costume, a married couple in their 80s and two freelance journalists — had chemical or “less-lethal” munitions used against them.
In October, 83-year-old Vietnam War veteran Richard Eckman and his 84-year-old wife Laurie Eckman joined a peaceful march to the ICE building. Federal officers then launched chemical munitions at the crowd, hitting Laurie Eckman in the head with a pepper ball and causing her to bleed, according to the complaint. With bloody clothes and hair, she sought treatment at a hospital, which gave her instructions for caring for a concussion. A munition also hit her husband’s walker, the complaint says.
Jack Dickinson, who frequently attends protests at the ICE building in a chicken suit, has had munitions aimed at him while posing no threat, according to the complaint. Federal officers have shot munitions at his face respirator and at his back, and launched a tear-gas canister that sparked next to his leg and burned a hole in his costume, the complaint says.
Freelance journalists Hugo Rios and Mason Lake have similarly been hit with pepper balls and tear gassed while marked as press, the complaint says.
“Defendants must be enjoined from gassing, shooting, hitting and arresting peaceful Portlanders and journalists willing to document federal abuses as if they are enemy combatants,” the complaint states.
The owner and residents of the affordable housing complex across the street from the ICE building has filed a separate lawsuit, similarly seeking to restrict federal officers’ use of tear gas because its residents have been repeatedly exposed over the past year.
Local officials have also spoken out against use of chemical munitions. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson demanded ICE leave the city after federal officers used such munitions Saturday at what he described as a “peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces.”
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave,” Wilson wrote in a statement Saturday night.
The protest was one of many similar demonstrations nationwide against the immigration crackdown in cities like Minneapolis, where in recent weeks federal agents killed two people, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
