April 8th, 2009
Citizen journalism captures 11 students arrested in counter-terror raids
Counter-terror police and intelligence service officers have arrested 11 students in Manchester, UK; one British national and ten Pakistani born nationals here in the UK on student visas, and a 41 year old man*.
Raids on the central library at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK left students stunned and confused as to what was going on. Students were told in the university library to “stay away from the windows for their own safety”.
Students in the first floor lobby of the university library captured the arrest of one student outside using the camera on their mobile phone. The images were sent straight to the BBC in London for broadcast.
An Internet cafe in Liverpool, a few miles south of central Manchester on the north west coast of the UK, has also been raided. Computers and mobiles have been taken by police to be examined in the near future.
BBC News security correspondent, Frank Gardner, spoke live on the BBC News a few moments ago. He made clear the threat level for the UK had not changed, unlike during the 2006 airline plot which raised the threat level to the highest status, “critical”.
“MI5, the domestic security service for the UK, has been highly involved with the intelligence led background detail, but now the police are very much taking control of the situation.”
The raids were brought forward to tonight due to sensitive documents being captured by a long-range lens outside Downing Street, carried by Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism police officer, Bob Quick, who has since apologised.
This does remind me of an incident last year where two students were arrested on the University of Nottingham campus for downloading publically available documents, relating to their course which the content related to terrorism studies.
This post will be updated as and when the news breaks, but may be removed as off-topic content.
* Updated:22:39 GMT. Source: BBC News; story still developing.
Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.
You can read his public biography and his work disclosures of his current and past industry affiliations.
Fire off an email if you feel like sharing a story or insight, or leave a voicemail. You can also follow him on Twitter to keep up to date with his ramblings.
Subscribe to iGeneration via Email alerts or RSS.
