Counter-terrorism police have issued a stark warning that one in five cases now involves children drawn into extremism, as a young neo-Nazi was convicted of plotting a mass gun attack. Commander Helen Flanagan, head of operations for the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, highlighted the alarming trend following the guilty verdict of Alfie Coleman, now 21, who planned a shooting spree after being radicalized online from the age of 14.
Radicalization from a Young Age
Coleman began searching for extreme right-wing material on the open web when he was just 14. He downloaded a neo-Nazi text onto his iPad, wrote a manifesto in a diary, and identified potential targets, including the Lord Mayor of London and a mosque. Authorities first became concerned in summer 2023 when his activity on extreme right-wing online groups intensified.
Plans to Acquire Weapons
In early September 2023, Coleman arranged to buy a Skorpion automatic weapon, an AK47 rifle, and ammunition in France, targeting a local mosque. However, he quickly abandoned that plan. Instead, MI5’s sophisticated operation led to his arrest in a Morrisons car park in Stratford, east London, on September 29, 2023. That day, Coleman met an undercover officer to purchase a Makarov pistol, five magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Jurors saw dramatic video of Coleman dropping £3,500 in a Land Rover Discovery and picking up a holdall containing the handgun and ammunition. Before he had gone 30 yards, armed counter-terrorism police confronted him. A search of his home revealed his admiration for Thomas Mair, the extremist who murdered MP Jo Cox, and other neo-Nazi mass killers he idolized as saints and warriors.
Growing Concern Over Youth Radicalization
Commander Flanagan stated: “Unfortunately we are seeing younger and younger individuals getting radicalised online. Now one in five people that we deal with in counter-terrorism is a child. We are seeing more and more referrals to Prevent at a younger age.” She emphasized that extreme material is not confined to the dark web but is easily accessible on the open web. “With a couple of clicks, you can certainly start to see some of that horrific material. And the more you see, obviously with algorithms, the more you’re getting exposed to. It is there available – and available to all our children.”
Ongoing Challenge of Online Manifestos
The accessibility of manifestos by mass killers like Anders Breivik, Dylann Roof, and Brenton Tarrant remains an ongoing challenge. “We’ve seen those individuals held as warriors, as people that inspire other attacks,” Flanagan said. “He read their manifestos and then created his own manifesto around carrying out an attack. So it’s clearly concerning that we have got individuals that are influenced online and hold these people in such high regard.”
Call for Parental Vigilance
Flanagan urged parents and carers to take basic steps and initiate conversations with their children to guard against radicalisation. “One click, two clicks to find material. So it’s about understanding what your children are doing and really trying to be quite intrusive with them around what they’ve been exposed to.”
