A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in Singapore for allegedly plotting to kill Muslims in two mosques on the Christchurch attacks anniversary.
Influenced by Christchurch killer Brenton Tarrant, he allegedly planned to knife his victims and livestream the attack.
He is the youngest person to be detained under the Internal Security Act, which allows for arrest without trial.
The Christchurch Attack
The Christchurch attack was the deadliest massacre and mass shooting incident in New Zealand history.
A total of 51 people were killed in a shootout by Tarrant – who has been sentenced to life in prison without parole – in two mosques on March 15, 2019.
The 16-year-old Singaporean teen, who was not identified but described as a Protestant Christian, was allegedly”motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence,” said the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
He is the first to be arrested on suspicion of being motivated by extremist ideologies in Singapore, where terrorist attacks and violent crime are not commonplace. The boy has been in custody since last month.
Plot By The Teenager
The department said it was clear he was influenced by Tarrant, who revealed that he planned to carry out his attack on March 15 this year, with the intention of celebrating two years of the attack in Christchurch. He also admitted that watching Tarrant’s live attack gave him a “rush”.
He allegedly planned a two-spotsattack – the Assyafaah Mosque and the Yusof Ishak Mosque – both near his home.
The boy intended to steal his father’s credit card in order to rent a car and drive between the two attacks, located north of the island. He did not have a driver’s license, but hoped to “make it work,” officials from the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The teen had allegedly originally planned to use a rifle like Tarrant, but decided to use a machete instead after he encountered difficulties in purchasing a firearm in Singapore, which has strict gun-control laws. The ministry added that he appeared to act alone.
Officials also said he prepared documents which he intended to disseminate before his attacks, one regarding the Nice attacks last year, and the other a manifesto detailing his hatred for Islam, in which he expressed hope that his intended attack would be called a “justifiable act of violence”.
Detention
Authorities say they were tipped off in November, and arrested him soon.
MHA said during cross-examination the boy admitted that “he could only see two consequences – that he was arrested before he could attack, or complete his plan and get killed by police”.
“He came in fully prepared, knowing he was going to die, and was determined to die,” Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam told local media.
Authorities say he will face “religious, psychological and social rehabilitation”, which includes involving a Christian counselor to “help him fix his extremist ideology”.
Mr Shanmugam said the case was a “grave concern”, adding that many young people under the age of 20 had been arrested or given restraining orders under the Internal Security Act in recent years.
Authorities have earlier detained suspected Islamist extremists, including a 17-year-old boy.
