The earliest reference to the Hofstad group occurred in 2002, when they were discovered by the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). The intelligence gathered in the first years after the group was discovered was limited, revealing that the group had only been meeting together. These were informal living-room meetings held by a Syrian asylum seeker posing as a religious. During these living room meetings, radicalization took place. By the end of 2002, the AIVD began to suspect that the organization was developing extremist views and discussing mass casualty events.