The Viennese Islamist (17) who wanted to carry out a terrorist attack at the main railway station is considered highly dangerous. An Islamism screening revealed that he was in an “advanced radicalisation process” and was a potential suicide bomber.
After the boy’s arrest, the terror suspect was subjected to the so-called DyRiAS procedure as part of a youth court investigation. DyRiAS stands for Dynamic Risk Analysis Systems, and the Islamism radicalisation screener can be used to identify signs of radicalisation processes taking place. In the process, 13 relevant areas of behaviour are queried, from which it can be concluded whether or not the respective test person is experiencing violent radicalisation in the Islamist sphere.
The result was unmistakable. A consolidated radicalisation was confirmed in all 13 areas. In addition, four so-called red flag factors were identified: The young person wanted to live in a community of IS supporters and be recognised by them and therefore wanted to travel to an IS combat zone. He already had access to weapons and an extremist environment – he frequented a mosque in Vienna’s twelfth district on a weekly basis, where radical Islamists, including the attacker of the 2nd of November 2020, had performed their prayers and listened to sermons. He was also networked with like-minded people via Telegram, TikTok and Instagram and was involved in group chats with radical content. In a Telegram chat with 19 Islamists, for example, he had announced the attack at the main railway station after a previous argument with his father, in which – as he himself later explained – he wanted to die and enter paradise.
On the basis of the proven radicalisation process and the red flags, the DyRiAS proceedings show that the 17-year-old does indeed have “high-risk factors” for potential acts of violence – even at the risk of his own death. In the more detailed explanations provided by the juvenile court, it is pointed out that the young person had reported suffering from “recurring suicidal thoughts”, “whereby he had already once expressed suicidal intentions to a friend from the mosque”.
The security authorities assume that there are at least ten, and following recent developments in the Middle East possibly more, radical Islamist “high risk” individuals in Austria who could carry out an attack at any time. In addition to the 17-year-old from the main railway station, an IS supporter of the same age was recently considered to be particularly dangerous. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court in January for terrorist association after he displayed IS propaganda material at his school, sprayed the IS symbol on a bridge pillar and patrolled with a machete bearing the IS emblem.
Just three months after his release, this teenager is said to have resumed IS propaganda and, together with an accomplice, shot a man sitting on a park bench in the thigh with a BB gun. At the end of November, he and his alleged accomplice will have to stand trial again for terrorist organisation and attempted grievous bodily harm.
Terror-Experten sicher: Wiener IS-Anhänger (17) zu Selbstmord-Attentat bereit | Exxpress