14-year-old called for the “destruction” of Graz on TikTok

2023-10-19 11:11:00

The police investigated the young person who came from Syria. He did not confess and claimed that a friend posted the video using his account. According to the police, the friend in question had an alibi. No targeted attack plans were found, the state police department said in a statement on Thursday.

Pro-Palestinian content on a constant loop

In the video that the Syrian, who has lived in Graz since 2015, shared on TikTok, three images with pro-Palestinian content could be seen on a continuous loop. The video also called for violence on Graz’s main square, among other things. The 14-year-old is now being reported.

It was only on Wednesday that the terror alert level in Austria was raised to the second highest level due to the recent escalation in the Middle East conflict and the terrorist attack in Brussels. The 14-year-old’s call for violence shows how “tense the security situation is and what effects this can also have on other countries. The importance of social media channels and their radicalization potential cannot be ignored,” said Styrian state police director Gerald Ortner.

Because of the increased terror alert level, Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) and his deputy Anton Lang (SPÖ) also met with the Styrian security authorities on Thursday morning. “Increasing police presence preventatively and continuing to act calmly and prudently” is an important step, say Drexler and Lang.