A four-year-old boy’s referral to the government’s anti-extremism Prevent strategy after talking about the popular Fortnite video game at his after-school club has prompted fresh calls to abolish the controversial scheme. The boy, who is from the West Midlands and is a Muslim, was referred to Prevent in September 2019 after saying that his father had “guns and bombs in his shed”. However, transcripts of a conversation with a club worker reveal that the reference to weaponry was linked to Fortnite. The child’s mother believes that if her boy were white and not a Muslim he wouldn’t have been considered at risk of radicalisation. In the first (anonymous) interview from a parent of an under-six referred to Prevent, she described her upset at police turning up at the family home at 10.30pm. “It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and, you […]

An aspiring doctor who was referred to Prevent over “misinformed” claims that he was “obsessed” with killing David Cameron must have his personal data deleted by the Metropolitan Police, the High Court has ruled. The boy – known only as II – was 11 when a tutor raised concerns in December 2015 that he allegedly wanted to kill the then prime minister, had spoken about “America being evil” and said he “liked Game Of Thrones because of the beheadings”. Officers with the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme spoke to his mother, NK, who said her son had recently written a letter he wanted to send to Mr Cameron which “spoke of peace and unity throughout the world”. Source: Boy who was referred to Prevent over misinformed ‘terror concerns’ wins case against Met Police | Asian Image

5Pillars has been told that two schools in the UK have been trying to train Muslim pupils to effectively spy on each other. Prevent Watch, which monitors the government’s controversial counter-extremism programme, told 5Pillars that the schools, one in Birmingham and one in Slough, have been training, or attempting to train, their pupils in the Prevent strategy. All schools are required to deliver the Prevent duty and “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.” However, it has been assumed until now that teachers are responsible for delivering Prevent and this is the first time that we have heard of pupils themselves being trained to deliver the strategy. 5Pillars spoke to a 17 year old pupil at Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College in Birmingham, which has an overwhelming majority Muslim intake. The student told us that around a month ago his whole year group had been trained to look out […]

Types of ‘concerns’ identified include far-left and anti-Isis extremism, FoI request reveals Environmental and animal rights activists have been referred to the government’s controversial anti-radicalisation programme, the Home Office has admitted. Responding to a freedom of information request, the Home Office provided a breakdown of reasons behind referrals of individuals to its Channel programme, an arm of Prevent, for “other types of radicalisation.’’ Environmental and animal rights were among types of “concerns” identified among individuals referred, as well far-left extremism, Northern Ireland-related extremism, “anti-Isil” and Sikh-related extremism. Source: Environment and animal rights activists being referred to Prevent programme | UK news | The Guardian

Students have had their university essays investigated by police and faced questioning by staff under government counter-terror measures, The Independent can reveal. Campaigners and experts warn that free speech is being stifled on campus and trust destroyed because of the “overzealous” Prevent programme, with students and lecturers becoming “suspects and informants”. Freedom of Information requests reveal that academic materials have been flagged in response to the government’s anti-radicalisation strategy – but it is understood that no action has been taken against students. Source: Students’ university essays reported to police under ‘overzealous’ government counter-terror measures | The Independent

SCHOOLS in St Helens are increasingly flagging up concerns that pupils may be in danger of being radicalised, a council meeting has heard. Source: Schools are ‘massive’ referrer to St Helens’ anti-radicalisation programme | St Helens Star

JACK’S STORY: today we want to tell you all how a 14-year-old Derbyshire boy was labelled a #DomesticExtremist because he said in class – in a lesson on the US civil rights movement – that he is an anti-fascist and how his family was then hounded by counter-terrorism police

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”no” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=””][fusion_youtube id=”https://youtu.be/h2h01Gp9gSg” alignment=”center” width=”” height=”” autoplay=”false” api_params=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” /][fusion_text] Sector: Education Region: Greater London Gender: Male Adam was about to start his summer holidays… Adam* is 8 years old. It was the last day of school and Adam’s mother went to pick him up as she normally would. When she arrived at the school, she was met by a teacher who informed her that two Police Officers and a Social Worker had questioned Adam earlier that day. Adam’s mother was shocked as there had never been any concerns about Adam […]

Date: July 2018 Sector: Education Region: East Midlands Gender: Male QS is 6 years old. During the last week of school, QS’s mother received a ‘courtesy call’ from her son’s school informing her that he had been referred to Prevent. The mother was told that during a school trip, QS had made comments to another 6-year-old child about non-Muslims and that he had allegedly learned these comments from his father. The other child then had told his parents who in turn informed the teacher. The staff member asked QS’s mother if she knew what Prevent was but did not proceed to explain the process any further. QS’s mother was too distressed at that point to ask any further questions. QS mother later learned that both the teacher and the family support worker had already questioned QS at school about the comments. QS’s mother was shocked that no one from the […]

Date: April 2018 Sector: Health / NHS / Optician Region: Greater London Gender: Male TI is 9 years old. He had an appointment to see an optician and was accompanied by his father. Almost immediately upon commencing the eye examination, the Optician asked TI if he had Chloe, Rebecca, Emily, Barbara and other English girls in his class. TI felt confused by the question and said he did not have these girls in his class. The Optician then repeated the question six or seven times. He repeated the names of the girls emphatically and asked TI whether he had “these English girls” in his class. TI was still feeling confused and started to feel uncomfortable. TI asked the Optician “why do you keep asking these questions?” The Optician proceeded to state that “you go to one of them schools” and that “you don’t go to school with English kids do […]

Sector: PoliceDate: February 2015Gender: FemaleLocation: North East RE is a 20-year-old nursery nurse who was travelling from the United Kingdom to provide humanitarian aid. She was subsequently subject to a schedule 7 stop under the Terrorism Act [2000]. During the stop, she said she was travelling abroad for humanitarian reasons. She was asked a number of questions such as her opinions of the events happening in Iraq and Syria, which mosque she attends, where she learns her Islamic knowledge and whether she believes in voting. Following the stop, RE had been receiving visits at home, which she described as “weekly visits from the police.” After a number of visits, she was visited by a Muslim individual who said that she wanted “to make sure she gets her Islamic knowledge from the right place” and insisted she was not under any criminal investigation. For example, she told RE that travelling without […]

Sector: Education and childcare Date: July 2015 Gender: Male Location: West Midlands SJ is a 19-year-old college student who was reported to the police by his College. Police officers from West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit went to SJ’s home twice when he was not there and proceeded to send text messages to his mother until the family agreed to a meeting. SJ did not know why the Counter-Terrorism Unit was approaching him but felt that it was because he had recently become more religious in his appearance, for example, by wearing a thawb (a long garment). During the home visit, the officers mentioned that part of their role was to ‘prevent people, mainly young men, from going to Syria’. The officers confirmed that it was the College that had contacted them with a number of concerns- majority of which were manifestly tied to SJ’s religion. This became clear when SJ was informed that […]