In a very real sense, however, Savage’s conversion to Islam is when his troubles began. Now he is facing life in prison, although in the UK that is likely to mean that he will spend only sixteen years behind bars. Savage’s story is similar to that of a great many converts to Islam who become jihadis, but this time there’s a twist.  

The UK’s Press Association reported Friday that Savage was “found guilty in January of plotting to stab an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism, after jurors were shown footage of him filming a reconnaissance ‘mission’ near a mosque and Islamic bookstore.” On Friday, he went to prison “after a judge said messages he had sent showed that he believed he would die while committing a terrorist attack.”

And so here we have yet another convert to Islam who somehow got the crazy idea that his new, peaceful religion commanded him to commit violence against those outside the fold. Unlike other convert jihadis, however, Savage didn’t primarily target non-Muslims; instead, he decided to murder an imam whose view of Islam differed from his own, specifically on the question of the permissibility of Islamic jihad terrorism: “video footage released by West Midlands Police after Savage was convicted showed him filming reconnaissance near a mosque in Wright Street, Small Heath, Birmingham, in March last year.”

Savage is caught on the video talking about how he would escape the area after committing his act of jihad. He says: “That seems like the best way to get away – the police will probably come from that way.” The Press Association adds that along with “charting different routes into the mosque, Savage, who had adapted the handle of a knife found at his home, was heard to say: ‘Just needs the means now. Ask Allah to give man the means, bro.’”