During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors offered the 16-year-old a way out: as he is still a minor and his personality may not be fully developed, they proposed a sentence of three years and three months in a juvenile detention facility—provided he waived his right to a full trial and pleaded guilty. But the Hungarian teenager refused. He claimed he had never seriously intended to attack mosques in Hungary and Poland or kill his girlfriend and her mother on a livestream. He said he simply wanted to become more popular.

Hungarian teen wanted to livestream the massacre of Muslims

A 16-year-old from Érd posted two TikTok videos last spring, threatening to carry out terrorist attacks on a Hungarian and a Polish mosque. He went further still, stating he would livestream the assaults to his followers. It is unclear how those followers reacted—whether they liked or commented—but the disturbing posts certainly caught the attention of investigators.

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After uploading his second threatening video, the teenager travelled to Kazincbarcika to visit his girlfriend. Authorities immediately began tracking him but were surprised to learn that local police had already arrested him. He had allegedly made death threats against both his girlfriend and her mother. According to RTL Klub, the girl was in a difficult situation, which the boy blamed on her mother. The investigation also revealed he had attempted to purchase weapons online, making it clear his threats were not idle.

He could have avoided a harsher sentence

According to RTL Klub, the teenager claimed to be a follower of the Australian terrorist who killed 51 Muslims at two mosques in 2019 and livestreamed the massacre online. While the Hungarian suspect never specified which mosques he intended to target, police took no chances—after his arrest, security was increased at several Muslim religious sites across the country.

The Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office offered him a more lenient sentence, in light of his age: just over three years in a juvenile facility, if he waived his right to a trial and pleaded guilty. However, he declined, insisting the entire plan was a prank designed to gain views and popularity. Now, he could face up to seven and a half years in prison if convicted of terrorism-related threats and attempted murder.

Watch the video of his arrest:

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