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Rabat – Moroccan suspect Yassine Kanjaa, accused of killing a sacristan and injuring a priest in Spain’s Algeciras, was issued a deportation order in June of 2022, Spanish outlet El Confidencial reported.
The deportation order was issued in June 2022 after the National Police in Cadiz verified that he lacked the necessary documentation to prove his right to legally reside in Spain.
El Confidencial reported that the dragged out process meant the alleged jihadist was never repatriated to Morocco.
After being deported, the suspect was supposed to go through one of Spain’s immigrant internment centers to start the process, but the newspaper said there was no evidence of this happening.
Authorities said that Kanjaa did not have any prior criminal charges in Spain or any of its allies.
Despite that, investigators discovered online posts where he recently showed support for organizations such as ISIS, pointing towards a potentially faster radicalization time, possibly helped by the spread of extremist content online.
Acquaintances with the suspect, however, recalled a history of threats of violence, with one of them admitting their regret at not reporting him to the police.
The suspect was reportedly expelled from some Muslim communities and mosques, with several witnesses saying they could tell “he was not well.”
Local Muslims in Spain also said that the violent act does not represent them, with the spokesman for the Union of Muslims of Campo de Gibraltar Mohamed Amar fearing racist and Islamophobic responses to the attack.
Indeed, the far-right Vox party president Santiago Abascal took to Twitter following the attack to say, “We cannot tolerate Islamism advancing on our soil.”
According to security forces, the 25-year-old entered an Algeciras church and told his victim that he had to profess Islam before attacking him with a large machete.
