Orlando shooter’s links to Islamic hate cleric who preached in Birmingham
British extremism apologist group backed killer's imam
THE fanatical Islamic preacher thought to have inspired Orlando massacre monster Omar Mateen is backed by a British group that defended Jihadi John.
Extremism apologists CAGE asked its supporters to fund the legal fees of gay-hating Marcus Robertson as he fought terror charges in the US last year.
And Robertson, 47, has also been allowed entry to Britain to preach despite his extremist links — and the fact an American court described him as a killer.
The former US Marine, who now goes by the name Abu Taubah, was yesterday being questioned over protege Mateen’s gun rampage at a Florida gay club that left 49 dead and 53 wounded.
Fanatic allowed entry to UK despite terror probe
Robertson, who stockpiled sermons by hate preacher Abu Hamza and refers to gay people as “faggots” and “perverts”, was facing up to ten years in jail last year over claims he cheated the US taxman so he could finance jihad abroad.
But his lawyers got the case thrown out. CAGE, which describes itself as a civil liberties group, had led a fundraising drive to support his case. It called on followers to wire up to $10,000 (£7,000) to his family and Islamic foundation.
The group previously caused outrage after its research director Asim Qureshi described Mohammed Emwazi, the British-born machete-wielding IS butcher known as Jihadi John, as: “A beautiful young man, extremely gentle and kind”.”
Robertson is believed to have been arrested on Sunday hours after the Orlando massacre.
It is believed he scouted the Disney World resort in Orlando as a possible target in April, paying particular attention to the shopping area.
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US law enforcement sources say Mateen, 29, was a member of Robertson’s web-based group the Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.
One said: “It is no coincidence that this happened in Orlando. Mateen was enrolled in the Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary.” Mateen was shot dead by a SWAT team. Robertson is known to have preached at the Green Lane mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham, in August 2010.
The area is said to be one of the heartlands of Muslim extremism in Britain. Home Secretary Theresa May failed to stop him coming in despite his violent criminal background.
American court documents say Robertson led a New York gang in the 1990s known as Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.
Its members robbed more than ten banks, private homes and post offices at gunpoint, shot three police officers and tried to kill another with a home-made bomb. Legal papers seen by The Sun say he “personally participated in more than a dozen armed robberies and shot and killed several men.”
Extremist apologists CAGE triggered revulsion in February when they described Jihadi John as "gentle and kind"
He served four years in jail after getting a lenient term for co-operating with the authorities.
Robertson later converted to Islam, learning the Koran by heart. He has two wives and 15 children.
In 2012 Robertson was again arrested and admitted firearms offences. He was also convicted of fiddling taxes. Prosecutors later claimed Robertson used his tax fraud to raise funds for jihad and “attacks on US military”.
One informant even claimed Robertson used his Marine experience to give him “paramilitary” style training.
Police also found preachings by former al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki and fanatic Hamza on his computer hard drive. But a judge dismissed this evidence, saying there was no proof Robertson took their extremist views to heart.
He threw out the case and Robertson was freed after spending more than three years behind bars.
Court papers say Robertson “travelled extensively” to Canada and to the UK in recent years.
In one undated lecture, posted online, he rants about homosexuality.
Robertson tells his followers, believed to include Mateen, to “protect” their children and says “most Americans” were “molested” when they were children.
He even launches a bizarre attack on cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants. Robertson insisted: “Spongebob is gay.
They put homosexual idea in child’s mind
“And these are the subtle things they put in this gay society to promote homosexuality, and you, the Muslim parent, get the homosexual idea and put it in your child’s mind.”
Robertson has also been described by many British IS fighters as a source of inspiration.
David Cameron wrote to President Obama yesterday to say Britain sent prayers and thoughts to the families of those murdered in Orlando.
Fasmily man . . . Mateen, ex-Noor and son
Anti-EU campaigners were described as “shameful” yesterday for producing a Brexit poster based on the Orlando massacre.
The Leave.EU group posted an online poster featuring a masked jihadist alongside a message that said Britain “must act now before we see an Orlando-style atrocity here”.
Pro-EU Tory minister Nicky Morgan said: “Using the tragic deaths of innocent people to make a political point is simply shameful.”
Shares plummet
SHARES in British security firm G4S fell by as much as 8 per cent yesterday after it was revealed Mateen was working as one of their guards at a gated retirement community in Florida before the massacre.
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