The sentencing of a ‘ginger terrorist’ shows that it’s not only Muslims who are charged with terrorism

A British man was ordered on Monday to be detained indefinitely for preparing “terrorist acts” from his bedroom. He was dubbed the “ginger avenger” for his plans to seek revenge after feeling victimised for his hair color, and likened himself to the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik. The case has raised questions about non-Muslims being called “terrorist” in media reports, as well as in a legal sense.

Mark Colborne was found guilty of possessing written material relating to carrying out an attack using lethal poisons. He had also written about his plans to kill Prince Charles so that Prince Harry—who also has red hair—could become king, despite Harry not being next in line to the British throne.

"I'm looking for major retribution, a mass terrorist attack which will bring to the attention our pain not just mine but my brothers around the world," he wrote.

Colborne is an example of a non-Muslim being convicted on terrorism charges; however, some have expressed their disappointment at news outlets for not calling him a “terrorist.” There have also been questions raised about why he was detained under the Mental Health Act, while Muslim attackers are often not considered to be mentally ill.

Others have taken to Twitter to joke about how the UK might handle the threat of “ginger terrorism,” highlighting the different manner in which Islamic extremism is handled.

See below, via Twitter.

Wonder if brown extremists are ever considered to be mentally ill- Ginger extremist detained under Mental Health Act https://t.co/oMnHcXD3fq

— Omar (@TheOmaRamo) December 22, 2015

Actions of this radical gingerist should not reflect on all ginger people. I have many moderate ginger friends, etc. https://t.co/B1ZUIPoN1T

— Joshua Mostafa (@JoshuaMostafa) December 23, 2015

Oh great, now us gingers are going to be profiled... https://t.co/0LpxbcoUfI

— Simon Cushing (@Simon_Cushing) December 23, 2015

Charged with terrorism, but you won't hear about crackdowns on ginger-haired people. https://t.co/7R6o0tImgc

— #RiseInResistance (@RiseNResist) December 22, 2015