By Joe Wilson
WASHINGTON – Just as the Manchester suicide bomber used student loans to fund his terror plot, at least one of the London attackers was living off the public dole.
Meanwhile, a leading prophet of growing Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom is still banned from entering the country.
More details about the London terrorists are being released, including the names of two suspects Monday afternoon. One, Khuram Butt, was a well-known member of his community. Some were surprised that he could perpetrate such a dastardly crime, remembering him as a man who would play soccer with neighborhood children, hold doors open for old ladies and throw neighborhood barbecues.
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Others are not so shocked. A former friend had reported him to an anti-terrorism hotline for becoming "radicalized." After two of her children came home saying they wanted to convert to Islam after talking to him in a public park, a neighbor called the police. He had been thrown out of an East London mosque for his extremist views. In addition, Butt had been featured in a British Channel 4 documentary titled "The Jihadist Next Door." His radicalism was no secret, either to the public or to the British police.
Why then was he allowed to remain at large? Pamela Geller, author of "Stop The Islamization of America," may have the answer. When asked why police did not keep track of someone with so many red flags, she told WND "there are just too many [radical Muslims] to keep track of, and more coming in all the time."
While known radicals such as Butt are allowed to walk the streets of Britain, Geller was banned in 2013 from entering the U.K. by then-home secretary Theresa May on the grounds that her presence was "not conducive to the public good."
"The British government is pursuing the strategy of appeasing and accommodating Muslims, hoping that by showing good will to Muslims, they will end the jihad," Geller said concerning her ban. "This is based on the assumption that jihad terror is a reaction to the misdeeds of non-Muslims. This is a false assumption, and that's why Britain's counter-terror approach is failing."
Not only did Butt, a Pakistani native, remain at large in Britain, but according to the London Sun, he received welfare payments courtesy of the British taxpayer: "[Butt is] believed to have been living with his mum — enjoying a comfortable lifestyle boosted by state handouts."
It's the second terrorist in little over two weeks who was subsidized by English taxpayers. Salman Abedi, the terrorist who killed 22 people in Manchester May 22 and injured dozens more, used student loan money to purchase the ingredients to make the bomb he used in the attack.
When asked why Butt might keep up the appearance of a decent human being for his neighbors while plotting such a horrific attack, Geller answered: "It may be unfeigned. They may actually be nice people, who believe that their jihad is part of serving Allah, as is their being nice to people on a day-to-day basis."
At the moment, the names of only two of the three terrorists are known, and at least 12 arrests have taken place in connection with the incident in London.