Abin creates guide to anticipate attacks in schools – 10/25/2023 – Education

Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) created a guide to characterize threats of attacks on schools and provide tools to assist in the early detection of such cases by state security forces.

The body states, in the introduction to the document, that with adaptations and contributions from educational institutions it is possible to use the guide to “create material to be made available to the school community as a whole, aiming at establishing sensors”.

The document, with restricted access and to which the Sheet had access, brings indicators that seek to help identify individuals who are in the process of radicalization, adhering to extremist ideologies, for example, and also preparing for violent acts, which is classified as “mobilization for violence”.

With 40 pages, the “Guide for preventing violent extremist attacks in schools” was produced at the end of the first semester and began to be sent to state Public Security departments.

According to Abin, the guide aims to “characterize the threat and offer tools that help early detection of a possible attack.”

The number of attacks on schools has increased in recent years in Brazil. Last Monday (23), a shooting attack inside a school in the east of São Paulo left one student dead and two other students shot. The shooter was a 16-year-old student.

This was the 36th attack on schools in Brazil since 2001. However, more than half (21) have occurred since 2022. There are already 11 this year alone.

All the aggressors are boys and, as research that maps the episodes shows, they had a history of some type of suffering in the school environment, such as bullying or isolation.

In addition to an explanation of the phenomenon of attacks in Brazil and other countries and the profile of the perpetrators of attacks, the guide points to warning factors about the possibility of new episodes. Among them, he indicates the imitation factor, significant dates and contagion effect.

Regarding dates, the document provides an infographic showing how the majority of attacks carried out and attempted in recent years in Brazil occurred on dates close to other similar events, called reference events because of the number of victims and repercussions, for example.

Abin’s guide also provides information such as the recurrence of incitement to violence in online environments and the association of individuals with these contents, groups and ideologies. The document highlights that the “dynamics of radicalization do not appear to be a linear process and involve variable combinations of factors.” However, the material contains a description of a process of radicalization, which involves everything from predisposition related to mental health to access to extremist ideologies, participation in groups and willingness to act, get involved in attacks and plan them.

“Many of those who carry out attacks in schools reveal signs of their dissatisfaction, intentions and plans, so that other people, such as family, friends, teachers or online contacts would have the opportunity to identify signs of mobilization for violence”, says the guide .

Regarding mobilization to carry out violent acts, the material provides details on indicators, which are: threat, communication or leakage of intention; financing; planning; dissimulation; putting life in order and training.

There is also, in the Abin guide, the suggestion of a form for evaluating these indicators, such as signs that demonstrate the intention to commit acts of violence and research into targets and tactics.

Another questionnaire suggested by the guide refers to indicators of radicalization, to identify situations in which there are signs of marginalization, resentment, appreciation for extremist and radical ideologies —and consumption of content with this content—, intolerance, speeches supporting violence, isolation and disruption, as well as attention to histories of mental illness.

Abin emphasizes that the guide “is not a predictive tool for the risk of violence”, but is intended to “help identify potential threats and establish priorities in preventing attacks”.

As access is restricted and directed to state security sectors, Abin’s material exposes the names of perpetrators of past attacks and points to clothing and symbols common to attackers, as well as main terms and hashtags used on social media by attackers and people who planned attacks. The aim is to facilitate identification by state security agents.

The disclosure of this information, as well as the names of the authors, is discouraged by experts as it contributes to the so-called contagion effect in inspiring new attacks. The guide itself indicates caution so as not to contribute to its spread.