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Rely first of all on your deeper knowledge of your friend. Is he someone that becomes enthusiastic about things but eventually cools, drops out, moves on to something else? Or is he someone who pursues things really relentlessly, maybe going farther than you think he should?
Holding strong political views in itself is neither unusual nor illegal, even if some designate them as 'radical'. What should arouse potential concern are the methods he is willing to use in order to achieve his political aims. Does he justify or even advocate the use of violence? Under what conditions? Is he someone prepared to put it into action or is it just a position he's adopting? Is he open about his willingness to espouse violent means? Might he be putting himself at risk by doing this? Is he aware of any risks that he is running? Does he seem to enjoy taking risks?
There are several areas that you might focus your concern on.
- If he is very vocal and upfront about his views, and strong on calling for practical action, he could come to the attention of people who might take him seriously – either the police & security services or those who are keen to recruit people for violent action.
- If he is strongly motivated to putting these ideas into action by violent means, he could himself be at risk of getting drawn into something serious.
Tips:
- Maintain good communication with him if you want to stay in this friendship; so you can offer him support.
- You're not obliged to listen to long speeches about his views, but if you want to, listen without being judgmental, but also feel free to state your own views and challenge where you believe his thinking has gone wrong (if it has).
- Think how his interests and energy could be channelled in constructive forms of campaigning and protest.
- Be sensitive to situations where he could be manipulated, exploited, or put at risk: either public meetings where he could attract attention, or if new acquaintances start to approach him and take a keen interest.
- If there is someone wise and experienced that you trust in this area who could give him good guidance, you might put your friend in contact with this person.