A rapping jihadi bought an 18in sword as he plotted a terror attack in the midst of the pandemic, a court has heard.
Before his arrest on July 9 last year, Sahayb Abu, 27, purchased online two blades, a combat vest, two balaclavas, fingerless gloves and a combat-style hat, the Old Bailey was told.
He is on trial alongside his brother Muhamed Abu, 32, who allegedly knew he was planning an act of terrorism but failed to report it.
Prosecutor John McGuinness QC said the brothers supported the aims of so-called Islamic State (IS) and rapped to each other of their extremist beliefs.
On June 17 last year, Muhamed Abu rapped: “Let’s get merky, let’s get hurty, I’ve got bombs that are just worthy…”
Mr McGuinness said that “merky” was slang for killing or injuring someone.
A minute later, Sahayb Abu rapped: “Got my under armour on, cos I gotta stay strong….
“I’ll be sending bombs and you’ll be getting smoked…and you’re just like an ant and you’ll be getting crushed under my boot…”
On June 28, Sahayb Abu posted a recording of himself singing: “No matter the way the wind blows, I will always be down with my bros, I will always be ready to eliminate the foes…”
Over three months before his arrest, Sahayb Abu allegedly made 110 searches for IS.
Last June, he also searched the internet for embassies, including the US, Russian and Israeli embassies in London, jurors heard.
When interviewed by police, Sahayb Abu denied being a supporter of IS.
He told police he got a smaller knife to fix a kitchen sink and the 18in blade because it “looked cool”.
He had the combat vest, balaclavas, gloves and hat because he parodied rap or drill videos, he said.
Any searches online for IS videos were to find out what had happened to two of his other brothers, who had been reported as having travelled to join IS and were thought to be either dead or missing, he said.
Chat on a Telegram group called Servants of the Unseen was an attempt to show off to women, he said.
Muhamed Abu denied he had any knowledge of a plan to commit a terrorist attack in the UK by his brother Sahayb or anyone else.
He told the police that IS was “a cancer, a tumour that needed to be excised from the face of the earth”.
Mr McGuinness countered the defendants’ claim not to be “anti-British” by telling jurors of an incident three years before.
On October 13 2017, in Ilford, east London, they put up posters of a red poppy headed: “Britain uses your tax money to kill Muslims in Muslim lands!”, the court heard.
Sahayb Abu, of South Norwood, south-east London, denies preparation of terrorist acts.
Muhamed Abu, of Dagenham, east London, denies failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
Read more: Brothers to face trial over terror plot