UK Teen in Stabbing Attack Now Faces a Terror Charge

The teenager accused in a stabbing rampage that killed three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England also has been charged with producing the deadly poison ricin and now faces a terror offense for possessing a jihadi training manual, police said Tuesday. Axel Rudakubana, 18, who is charged with murdering three girls and stabbing 10 other people on July 29, produced the deadly poison ricin that was later found in his home, Merseyside Police said. Police also found he had a computer file with an al-Qaeda training manual titled: "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants," the AP reports.

• Clarifying: Police emphasized that the stabbing attack has not been classed as a "terrorist incident," which would require a motive to be known. The stabbing occurred on the first week of summer vacation as girls aged about 6 to 11 participated in a two-hour session led by a yoga instructor and a dance instructor.
• Earlier charges: Rudakubana already faced three counts of murder over the July deaths of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England. He also has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight children and two adults who were injured.
• Backlash: The stabbings were used by far-right activists to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims after misinformation spread on social media identifying him as an asylum seeker and misreporting his name. Violence spread from Southport and led to rioting across England and Northern Ireland that lasted a week. Rudakubana was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, police said. British media reported that he was raised Christian.
• Ricin: No ricin was found at the scene of the stabbing, and the teen's motive for allegedly making it was not known. Ricin is estimated to be 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide and can be fatal when inhaled, ingested, injected, or swallowed. Two-millionths of an ounce—roughly the weight of a grain of salt—is enough to kill an adult.

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