Bilal Hadfi Warnings Were Ignored: School Principal Tried To Warn Police About Radicalization

Warnings were ignored about Bilal Hadfi, one of the ISIS terrorists behind the Paris terror attacks, breaking news reports allege. In April, the teachers of the accused Islamic State terrorist warned Belgium officials that he had been radicalized. Hadfi’s school principal claims the ball was dropped when he tried to warn police that a student had become involved with ISIS. Bilal’s own mother has now weighed in on the missed warnings signs that could have prevented her son from growing up to become a terrorist.

Bilal Hadfi was attending the Annessens-Funck school earlier this year before the Paris terror attacks took place. His principal, Chris Pijpen, told the New York Times that he sent an email to education officials in Belgium on April 27 to alert them to the radicalized and dangerous behavior of Hadfi. According to the school principal, Belgian education official Charles Huygens did not alert the police about the concerns.

Both teachers and school officials in Belgium are legally required to report “suspicious terrorist behavior” to the police. If the law had been properly followed, the principal’s warning to the administration should have been given to law enforcement officials and, perhaps, the Paris attack could have been detected before the carnage occurred.

Paris attacks’ terrorist Bilal Hadfi’s mother says she missed warning signs https://t.co/bYmARHkvFl #InfoNdoroTweet pic.twitter.com/5mH8tSA1kM

— IG : Bung Toms (@NdoroTweet) December 28, 2015

The Belgium principal also said that if he had passed on his Bilal Hadfi warnings directly to the police, it would have violated school protocol as it pertains to sharing information about students with law enforcement. Pijpen maintains that he stated that he never received a reply email and that he did not understand why Mr. Huygens did not follow up on the teachers’ warnings.

Bilal Hadfi’s principal also had this to say about his terrorism warnings going unanswered.

“I expected that something would happen, some further action, at least someone from the administration that would come down to our school, or the police. I was amazed that nothing happened. This was already after Charlie Hebdo and Verviers. You would expect some reaction. But then again, we’ve been asking for years for more support at our school, or the hiring of specialists, but never got any.”

Police officials in Belgium are only now interviewing Hadfi’s former teachers and classmates. Bilal was 20-years-old when he strapped on an explosive vest and went to Paris to kill anyone he happened to encounter at his designated location. Before becoming radicalized and joining ISIS, Hadfi was a soccer player who reportedly enjoyed dating and other typical teenage activities.

Hadfi changed his name to Abu Moudjahid al-Belgiki after becoming a disciple of radical Islam, and he posted an ISIS flag to his Facebook page. He reportedly traveled freely in and out of Syria several times before the Paris terror attacks, the Daily Mail reports. During this time, he was living with his widowed mother and two brothers. The family resided in the Neder-over-Heembeek area of Brussels. Life at home was reportedly difficult, both emotionally and financially, after Hadfi’s father passed away several years ago.

Mother of Paris attacker Bilal Hadfi says she missed warning signs: Report https://t.co/uvskWwpLl0pic.twitter.com/cZ9Q0oA5Gi

— News (@orbitcollection) December 28, 2015

“You could not see anything [different] with him. He was like everybody else,” Bilal’s mother, Fatima Hadfi, said during a telephone interview with Maghreb TV, which serves the Moroccan community in Belgium. “He was a good boy, friendly and helpful but despite all that, they knew how to get around him. I should have listened more closely, I should have been closer to my children.”

What do you think about the Bilal Hadfi warning signs being ignored before the ISIS terror attack in Paris?

[Photo by Laurent Cipriani/AP]