Hawks Apprehend The Head Of An Alleged Christian Terrorist Group. Police officials have apprehended a self-professed head of the New Christian Resistance Movement, Harry Knoesen.
Police officials have apprehended a self-professed head of the New Christian Resistance Movement, Harry Knoesen. The movement is known as the ‘Crusaders’. The man was caught by the Hawks’ organised crime investigation’s Crimes Against The State group. The group was assisted by the state crime intelligence on Thursday.
They were following a two-year investigation that was guided by intelligence. They were looking into an alleged terrorist plot that was supposedly co-ordinated by ‘Crusaders’. They were allegedly aiming at keypoint areas of the state, informal settlements and shopping malls. Brigadier Hangawani Mulaudzi, the Hawks spokesperson, says Harry Knoesen was apprehended at his house in Mpumalanga.
He retired from church as a pastor, he was also formerly part of the South African National Defence Force. He was charged with charges linked actions based on the breaching of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism and Related Activities Act and for illegal possession of ammunition and fire arms. When they went to go check his house in the Eastern Cape, they found a possible explosives factory. Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi says, “The subsequent search at his other residence in the Eastern Cape uncovered a possible explosives factory, electronic devices, documents, an unlicensed firearm and ammunition that were seized for further analysis.”
by Alexandra Ramaite
