See What Happens When You Release Terrorists From Jail?

The moment Belgian cops shot dead suspected terrorist in a gun battle after he killed two policewomen and a trainee teacher while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ – as it emerges authorities KNEW he was radicalised

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Attacker stabbed two policewomen, took their guns and shot them and a civilian dead in Liege, Belgium
He then took a female cleaner hostage inside a nearby high school, before he was killed by special forces
Belgian prosecutors say the attacker 'came out firing' from the school and was shot dead outside
The incident in the eastern Belgian city on Tuesday morning is being treated as a terror attack
The male attacker had reportedly been released from prison the day before the attack
Belgian broadcaster named attacker as Benjamin Herman, 36, who they claim had converted to Islam
Victims named as police officers Lucile Garcia, 45, and Soraya Belkacemi, 53, and Cyril Vangriecke, 22

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5781939/Two-police-officers-shot-dead-Belgium-attacker-took-woman-hostage-killed.html

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Northwest · M

And you know the authorities were aware that this guy was a terrorist, before he was released?

The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, said that the attacker, Benjamin Herman, was a serial convict (drugs, assault, violent crimes), and that Herman’s name did not appear on a list maintained by an anti-terror assessment group.

When the two officers stopped him, for a routine identity check, he started shouting "Allah Akbar" and stabbed both of them, took their weapons, shot them dead, killed a bystander, and went into the school where he took a hostage.

One of the police officers he killed, is a Muslim woman.

https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_l-auteur-de-la-fusillade-a-liege-etait-en-conge-penitentiaire-depuis-lundi?id=9930716

[quote]Le nom de Benjamin Herman, était apparu précédemment dans deux rapports de la Sûreté de l'Etat et un de la police, mais de manière indirecte, a indiqué le Premier ministre Charles Michel mardi soir, à l'issue d'une réunion du Conseil National de Sécurité.

Les dossiers dans lesquels le nom Benjamin Herman est apparu "visaient d'autres personnes et d'autres situations", a précisé Charles Michel. "Sur base des éléments récoltés, les services ont considéré qu'il ne fallait pas donner de qualification à l'auteur", qui ne figurait par ailleurs pas dans la base de données de l'Ocam.[/quote]

The Belgian TV report (link), has an interview with the killer's cousin. She said that she looked out her window, at 2-3 in the morning, and saw him running from an apartment of a guy, who was stabbed to death. The knife was found in Herman's car, after the attack in Liege, a few hours later.

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@Northwest

News reports cited Belgium security officials who said the killer was on a "watch list" of prisoners who had been "radicalized." Yet he was still released.

[b]That one officer was Muslim, as you noted, does [big][u]NOT[/u][/big] matter to these radical extremists.[/b]

Just think of how many Muslims they and their ilk have already killed over the centuries, including this century.

To them, any Muslim who cooperates or works for the government of infidels is not spared from their acts of terror.

Northwest · M

@beckyromero I included a link to the Belgian TV report, citing the Belgian Prime Minister, who said the opposite.

I did not say that the religion of the police woman matters, I mentioned that she is Muslim. At this point, to say that this guy was anything but a deranged individual, who was looking for an excuse to kill, would be speculation, especially given the killing that started it, a few hours earlier, in his hometown, witnessed by his cousin. Something the English language press did not mention yesterday.

ISIS is not the justification for all bad behavior.

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@Northwest

Sounds like the PM is just doing a CYA job.

The [i]Daily Mail[/i] reported:

[quote]A lawmaker revealed Belgian national Herman was on an anti-terror police watchlist after being radicalised in jail. He appeared indirectly in security reports on radicalised people and was a multiple repeat offender incarcerated since 2003 who was on day release when he attacked.[/quote]

Northwest · M

@beckyromero [quote]He appeared indirectly in security reports on radicalised people [/quote]

Again, you're quoting from the British press. This is not the terrorist watch list. This is not what the French language reporting said. The Prime Minister was clear about the police radicalization list, and it does not really translate to that. Read the link I sent for the French language full report, with interviews with the guy's cousin and the Prime Minister.

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@Northwest

It's not just the British Press.

[quote]A source close to the investigation told AFP that the gunman was on a special police watchlist because of his contacts with radical Islamists.[/quote]
http://www.thejournal.ie/liege-attack-4043788-May2018/
AFP ~ Agence France-Presse

[quote]The attacker was not on a terrorism watch list, nor on a list of people suspected of being at risk of radicalization. But he was cited in two reports by Belgium’s civilian intelligence service, and one by the police, on a radicalized individual with whom Mr. Herman had been in contact.[/quote]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/world/europe/belgium-liege-gunman-radicalized.html

[quote]Justice Minister Koen Geens told RTBF radio he was having pangs of conscience over whether the man should have been allowed the furlough.

...
“There are signs he was radicalized in prison but is it that radicalization which drove him to commit these acts?” [Interior Minister Jan] Jambon said, adding that although Herman was flagged up in security reports in 2016 and early 2017, he had been a fringe figure.

...
It was the 14th time since his detention that he was granted temporary leave, Geens said. “Everyone in Belgium is asking the same question: how is it possible that someone convicted of such serious acts was allowed to leave prisons?” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander de Croo was quoted as saying.[/quote]
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belgium-shooting/prison-day-release-practice-under-scrutiny-after-killings-in-belgian-city-idUSKCN1IU2WI

The PM is going to be criticized for the furlough program.

It's been over 30 years since Willie Horton was let out under a prison furlough program under Gov. Michael Dukakis and politicians still haven't learned from it.

Northwest · M

@beckyromero From your post:

[quote]The attacker was [b]not[/b] on a terrorism watch list, [b]nor[/b] on a list of people suspected of being at risk of radicalization[/quote]

Just responding to the title of your thread:

[quote]See What Happens When You Release Terrorists From Jail?[/quote]

If you want to talk about furlough programs, let's change the topic.

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@Northwest

And from my post.

[quote]"But he was cited in two reports by Belgium’s civilian intelligence service, and one by the police."[/quote]

The PM is doing his hardest to make it sound as though there was no justification to prevent the killer from going out on a day-released program.

What I am saying is that there are reports from multiple news sources quoted Belgium officials to indicate that the killer WAS on reports, just not Belgium's terrorist watch list.

Many countries, including ours (U.S.), suffer from having too many different criminal databases, watch lists, whatever you want to call them, etc., that lets violent criminals slip thru the cracks and then all of a sudden when they commit yet another violent crime, officials start covering their asses.

But inevitably in many such instances, it gets eventually reported that they WERE on some kind of list(s) that should have raised all kinds of red flags.

Time will tell with this incident, too.