LONDON: The imam of a Scottish mosque has described how a neo-Nazi teenager pretended to convert to Islam as a way to carry out a massacre inside.
The boy, 16 years old at the time of the incident, was caught by detectives in January as he traveled to burn down the Inverclyde Muslim Centre in Greenock, Sky News reported on Monday.
He later pleaded guilty under the Terrorism Act at the Glasgow High Court and will be sentenced at a later date.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was inspired by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik and hoped that the mosque, with a capacity of 275 worshippers, would be full during his attack. He had planned to livestream the massacre after becoming radicalized online aged 13.
He told Imam Mohammed Bilal that he intended to become a Muslim. “I gave him the Qur’an to get more knowledge,” Bilal said.
“He told me that he wanted a balanced life. I asked, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I want (to be) closer to my Creator if I become Muslim.’”
Hamid Akhtar, also from the mosque, said the planned attack had served as a wake-up call for the area’s Muslim community.
“The frightening bit was that somebody was so nice and so conning. Making us a fool that he wanted to convert, and we were helping him in every way and trusting him,” he told Sky News.
“It gives us a lesson in future about who comes in and what their intentions are. We have more security cameras now.”
The boy, who has an autism diagnosis, believed that Europeans are in a “war” against other races. He authored a “manifesto” on his mobile phone and pledged to “die for my land.”
His final manifesto said he would attack when “the mosque will be at its fullest.” But the door to the mosque was locked, and police were waiting to arrest him after being tipped off.
The rucksack he took contained a German air pistol, ball bearings, gas cartridges and four cans of aerosol spray.
A raid of his home uncovered a copy of Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf,” knives and bomb-making ingredients.
Local Muslim Adeel Naeen told Sky News: “The event is an isolated event, but I look at the community today and you see the number of people that come through the doors, so we are glad that the police were able to stop anything from happening. The community is still strong in terms of it’s not putting people off from gathering here.”
