Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
CEP Senior Advisor Alexander Ritzmann contributed to the European Commission's Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) Practitioners Spotlight magazine, writing the article, "A Psychological Perspective on Conspiracy Narratives Fostering Anti-Government Sentiment": "People who believe in conspiracy narratives are often trying to fix a problem. In many cases, they are in some kind of personal crisis (e.g. financial debt, reputation loss, job loss, partner loss) when they subscribe to stories claiming for example that a small “hidden (Jewish) elite” is running the world, that “white people” are being systematically replaced or that Bill Gates is using the COVID 19 pandemic to put microchips in peoples bodies to control them."
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
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