Abu Izzadeen

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Abu Izzadeen

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| nationality = British

| birth_name = Trevor Richard Brooks

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|04|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Hackney, London, UK

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| charge = Breaching the UK's Terrorism Act of 2006.

| conviction = 2008, guilty of incitement to terrorism

| conviction_penalty =

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| children = 3

}}

Abu Izzadeen ({{langx|ar|أبو عز الدين}}, Abū ‘Izz ad-Dīn; born Trevor Richard Brooks{{Cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=RquWqYdL0FnBrowQoEJb%2Bg&scan=1|title=Brooks, Trevor Richard: Mother's maiden name, Reid: Registration district, Hackney: volume/page in registry 12/1573|series=Transcription of England and Wales birth registrations 1837–1983|accessdate=22 March 2017|publisher=FreeBMD.org.uk}} on 18 April 1975) is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a British Muslim organisation banned under the Terrorism Act 2006 for the glorification of terrorism.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4130454.stm |title=Terror treason charge considered |publisher=BBC News |date=8 August 2005 |accessdate=25 March 2017}} He was convicted on charges of terrorist fund-raising and inciting terrorism overseas on 17 April 2008{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7352969.stm |title=Six guilty of terrorism support |publisher=BBC News |date=17 April 2008 |accessdate=25 March 2017}} and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. He was released in May 2009,{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8035827.stm |title=Radical preacher released early |first=Dominic |last=Casciani |publisher=BBC News |date=6 May 2009 |accessdate=25 March 2017}} after serving three and a half years, including time on remand. In January 2016, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for breaching the Terrorism Act by leaving the UK illegally.{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Two jailed for breaching terror laws after Hungary deportation

|date=8 January 2016|accessdate=22 March 2017|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35262460}}

Personal background

Abu Izzadeen is a British citizen born on 18 April 1975 in Hackney, east London, to a Christian{{cite news |first=Duncan |last=Gardham |title= Muslim preacher Abu Izzadeen guilty of inciting terrorism |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1895959/Muslim-preacher-Abu-Izzadeen-guilty-of-inciting-terrorism.html |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |location= London |accessdate=22 March 2017|date=17 April 2008}} family originally from Jamaica. Brooks converted to Islam the day before he turned 18, on 17 April 1993, changing his name to Omar, but preferring to be called Abu Izzadeen. He is fluent in Arabic.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv704B93EZU |title=Debate on Newsnight about Abu Izzadeen and extremism |publisher=YouTube}}{{cite news |first=Mohammed |last=Al Shafey|title=The UK's New Face of Radicalism |url= http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=4873 |work=Asharq Al-Awsat|date=9 May 2006 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20071010155334/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=4873 |archivedate=10 October 2007}}

He trained and worked for a while as an electrician. He has three children with his wife, Mokhtaria, whom he married in 1998.{{cite news |title=The electrician who turned into a radical |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1542020/The-electrician-who-turned-into-a-radical.html | newspaper=Daily Telegraph |location= London |date=10 February 2007 |accessdate=9 February 2007}}

Political activities

Abu Izzadeen met Omar Bakri Muhammed and Abu Hamza al-Masri at Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s. He visited Pakistan in 2001, before the 11 September attacks, as part of Al-Muhajiroun; he said he went there to give a series of lectures. He also said he had attended terror training camps in Afghanistan.

He described the 7/7 suicide bombers in London as "completely praiseworthy".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/religion/Story/0,,1707577,00.html |title=Reborn extremist sect had key role in London protest |newspaper=The Guardian |first1=Ian |last1=Cobain |first2=Nick |last2=Fielding |first3=Rosie |last3=Cowan |date=11 February 2006 |accessdate=25 March 2017}} On the eve of the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London, he was filmed preaching to a group of Muslims in Birmingham mocking and laughing at those who believe in the war on terror and who feel a need to resist Islamic terrorism. He also mocked the courage of journalists who were captured by insurgents.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G99_wqfPLXI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/G99_wqfPLXI |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Smug British Terrorist mocks victims of 9/11, 7/7, etc |publisher=YouTube |date=11 July 2006 |accessdate=25 March 2017}}{{cbignore}} He has openly stated that he wishes to die as a suicide bomber.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1724541,00.html |title=Inside the sect that loves terror |newspaper=The Times |date=7 August 2005 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012140907/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C2087-1724541%2C00.html |archivedate=12 October 2008}}

On 20 September 2006, Abu Izzadeen and Anjem Choudary disrupted Home Secretary John Reid's first public meeting with Muslims since his appointment. He called Reid an "enemy" of Islam.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5362052.stm |title=Reid heckled during Muslim speech |publisher=BBC News |date=20 September 2006 |accessdate=25 March 2017}} John Humphrys interviewed Izzadeen on the edition of 22 September 2006 of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. In a heated discussion Abu Izzadeen stated that his aim was to bring about Sharia law in the UK and that this should be achieved without following the democratic process but rather "in accordance to the Islamic methodology".{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today4_abu_20060922.ram |title=BBC interview with Abu Izzadeen |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |date=22 September 2006 |accessdate=25 March 2017}}

On 22 March 2017, Izzadeen was incorrectly identified as the perpetrator of the 2017 Westminster attack by a number of news sources, including Channel 4 News and The Independent, until it emerged that he was still in prison.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/abu-izzadeen-not-london-attacker-brother-mistaken-alive-still-in-prison-a7644626.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323002050/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/abu-izzadeen-not-london-attacker-brother-mistaken-alive-still-in-prison-a7644626.html |archive-date=2017-03-23 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Abu Izzadeen's brother says he is still in prison and not London attacker|date=22 March 2017|first=Jon |last=Sharman|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=23 March 2017|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news|url=http://metro.co.uk/2017/03/22/man-incorrectly-named-as-london-terror-attacker-still-in-prison-6527748/|title=Man incorrectly named as London terror attacker 'still in prison'|first=Toby |last=Meyjes |date=22 March 2017|newspaper=Metro|access-date=23 March 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2017/03/22/solicitor-denies-westminster-terrorist-suspect-clapton-hate-preacher-abu-izzadeen/|title=Solicitor denies Westminster attacker is Clapton hate preacher Abu Izzadeen |date=22 March 2017|newspaper=Hackney Citizen|access-date=23 March 2017}} This incorrect information was subsequently added to Izzadeen's Wikipedia page, sparking a conflict among editors over whether it should be included. It was removed once and for all eight hours after the attack, after Channel 4 apologized for incorrectly naming Izzadeen as the attack's perpetrator.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/technology/london-terror-attack-suspect-social-media.html | title=Fake Sleuths: Web Gets It Wrong on London Attacker | work=The New York Times | date=24 March 2017 | accessdate=25 April 2017 | author=Scott, Mark}}

Arrests and convictions (2007–15)

British police arrested Abu Izadeen on charges of inciting terrorism on 2 August 2007. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said the arrest is related to an "on-going inquiry," involving a speech Abu Izadeen gave in the West Midlands area in 2006, which predates 20 September 2006 incident.{{cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20080641250721 |title=Reid's Heckler: Cleric Under Arrest |date=8 February 2007 |publisher=Sky News |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810231553/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20080641250721 |archivedate=10 August 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/08/britain.arrest.reut/index.html |title=UK police arrest outspoken Muslim |publisher=Cable News Network |date=8 February 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210045235/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/08/britain.arrest.reut/index.html |archivedate=10 February 2007}}

Izzadeen was arrested again in a pre-dawn police raid on 24 April 2007 under the Terrorism Act 2000 "in connection with inciting others to commit acts of terrorism overseas and terrorist fundraising".

{{cite web|url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070424/tuk-britain-attacks-arrests-a7ad41d_1.html |title=Six arrested in London anti-terror raids |date=24 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427115757/http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070424/tuk-britain-attacks-arrests-a7ad41d_1.html |archivedate=27 April 2007 |publisher=Yahoo News }}

On 17 April 2008, Izzadeen was among six men convicted at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court of supporting terrorism, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of encouraging terrorism. He was subsequently jailed for three and a half years.

On 14 November 2015, Izzadeen and Sulayman Keeler were detained by police in Lőkösháza, Hungary, on a train heading to Bucharest, Romania, because they were not able to identify themselves.{{cite web|url=http://444.hu/2015/11/18/jol-ismert-brit-iszlamista-hitszonokot-fogtak-lokoshazanal |title=Jól ismert brit iszlamista hitszónokot fogtak Lőkösházánál |publisher=444.hu |date=31 January 2017 |accessdate=22 March 2017|language=Hungarian}}{{cite web|url=http://444.hu/2015/11/18/terrorfinanszirozasert-elitelt-angolokat-fogtak-lokoshazanal |title=Terrorfinanszírozásért elítélt angolokat fogtak őkösházánál |publisher=444.hu |date=31 January 2017 |accessdate=22 March 2017|language=Hungarian}}{{cite web|url=http://www.police.hu/hirek-es-informaciok/legfrissebb-hireink/hatarrendeszet/a-terrorizmus-segitoi-announcement |title=A terrorizmus segítői – Announcement | A Magyar Rendőrség hivatalos honlapja |publisher=Police.hu |date=17 November 2015 |accessdate=22 March 2017|language=Hungarian}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-britain-arrest-idUSKCN0T719R20151118 |title=Hungary detains two Britons previously convicted of terrorism offences |publisher=Reuters |date=18 November 2015 |accessdate=22 March 2017}} During the time of their detention, on 17 November 2015, a European Arrest Warrant appeared in the Schengen Information System against both individuals. The two men did not inform the British authorities about leaving the UK despite the court decision ordering them to do so.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}