The Brotherhood's spokespeople consistently rejected the revolutionary and terrorist violence of the militant Islamic groups that appeared in Egypt during the 1970s (such as "Al-Jihad", which assassinated Sadat in October 1981). At the same time, they argued that increasingly brutal police persecution was largely to blame for this radicalisation, and that if the Brotherhood were legalised, it would be able to help prevent extremism by providing Islamic education to young people. These arguments fell on deaf ears; in the months before his assassination, while his popularity was plummeting, Sadat ordered massive arrests among all opposition forces, including the Brotherhood. The arrested Brothers were released in January 1982, having been cleared of any wrongdoing.