Ethnic Chinese boy identified as a white supremacist and planned to carry out attacks after being radicalised online

A Chinese teenager from Singapore who identified as a white supremacist after being radicalised online planned out school shootings in the US, and other terror attacks across the world.

The boy, who has not been named, planned on carrying out racially motivated attacks overseas to further the cause of white supremacy, Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) said.

He was released at the age of 19 in January, following a three-year detention period in which he went though an intensive rehabilitation programme to deal with his extremist views, which were cultivated by years of exposure to far-right media.

The boy, the second to be detained under Singapore's Internal Security Act, first saw videos published by far-right white supremacist Paul Nicholas Miller, also known as GypsyCrusader, who cosplays as various pop culture figures and shared anti-Semitic and racist views online.

Miller was imprisoned for 41 months after pleading guilty to firearms charges in the US in June 2021.  

The Chinese boy himself was detained when he was 16 in December 2020, after he made detailed plans to commit terrorist attacks using machetes against Muslims at two mosques in Singapore, a country in which 15.6% of the population is Muslim.

He held an intense hatred of groups often the target of extremists, including Black Americans, Arabs and the LGBTQ community.

The ISD said that he used to believe that Black Americans were responsible for a huge proportion of crime in the US, and deserved to 'die a horrible death.'

He also believed in the Great Replacement Theory, a racist claim that White populations in the Western would are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white immigrants, often from Muslim-majority nations, and believed that illegal immigrants had committed a disproportionate number of violent attacks against White people.

The unnamed boy took part in hard-right groups and channels online, and shared violently anti-Black videos, finding a sense of community with white supremacists, the ISD said.

He made plans to travel to countries in the West and beyond, including France, Italy, the US and Russia, to take part in attacks against minority groups, and was also interested in taking part in a school shooting in the US.

The ISD said that he did not take any steps towards these, as he did not have access to funds, and did not have the knowledge to do this.

During his three-year detention, the ISD worked with church groups, arranging for a Christian pastor to counsel him and talk through his extremist views.

He also had a psychologist and three mentors, including his former secondary school teacher, who all helped him work through his self-esteem issues, attitudes towards violence and sociological factors that added to his radicalisation.  

His family, who have also not been identified, visited him weekly, and the boy was allowed to study for national exams, with the ISD sending at least five tutors to help with his education.

The ISD said he plans on carrying on with his education following his release.

The boy has been placed under a restrictive order, that prevents him from changing his place of residence or leaving the city-state.

His access to social media and the internet has been restricted, as has his ability to issue public statements.

He has also been assigned two mentors to provide him guidance and wellness skills, and the ISD is also working with charities to look into community-based programmes that will equip him with 'pro social skills.'

'Far-right ideologies, which often espouse white supremacist, anti-Islam, xenophobic and anti-immigration beliefs, can be adapted to fit the Singaporean landscape. One example is by advocating for the superiority of specific communities, through the lens of cultural, ethno-religious or nationalist supremacy,' The ISD noted.

It added that such divisive rhetoric can create deep societal divides, amplify prejudices and encourage acts of violence against minorities.