Bavaria "Bitter day for Munich" - Asylum seeker drives into demonstration
Seidlstrasse in Munich's city center is littered with debris and pieces of clothing. Shock and horror reign where shortly before members of the Verdi trade union were demonstrating for more money in the public sector.
13.02.2025, 15:16
SDA
"A serious attack has taken place in Munich," writes Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) on Platform X, having previously visited the scene of the attack that left more than two dozen people injured. The Bavarian Central Office for Extremism and Terrorism took over the investigation. The attack took place in the middle of the final spurt of the federal election campaign.
The vice president of the Munich police headquarters, Christian Huber, describes the incident as follows: At around 10.30 a.m., a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan drives his car behind the demonstration, overtakes a police car to secure the group, accelerates - and drives into the end of the demonstration, to which several people had brought their children. The police shoot in the direction of the suspect and arrest him.
According to Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), the young Afghan was a rejected asylum seeker. At the same time, it had been determined "that he could not be deported at the moment and was therefore allowed to remain in our country".
Politicians called for a crackdown after the crime. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: "This perpetrator cannot count on any leniency. He must be punished and he must leave the country," said the SPD politician before an election campaign appearance in Fürth. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) warned: "The constitutional state must show maximum severity." AfD leader Alice Weidel called for a "migration turnaround". Green candidate for chancellor Habeck (Greens) expressed his "horror at this senseless act" on X.
"A bitter day for Munich"
28 people are injured in the attack, some of them so seriously that Söder speaks of them possibly facing death. State Interior Minister Herrmann speaks of one or two life-threatening injuries. The victims are being treated in Munich hospitals - including the children's hospital, because according to Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD), children are among them.
"A bitter day for Munich", says Mayor Reiter at the scene. "It just hurts," says Söder. "An event like the one in Aschaffenburg in January and now here in Munich - it's just enough."
Shortly after the shocking crime, it became clear that the alleged perpetrator was an asylum seeker and known to the police - just like the suspect in the Aschaffenburg massacre that left two people dead. According to Herrmann, the 24-year-old had attracted attention for shoplifting and narcotics violations.
"We react calmly to every attack like this, but I can also tell you that our resolve is growing. It's not the first case, and who knows what else will happen," says Söder at the scene of the incident. In addition to dealing with the individual case and expressing sympathy, the incident must have consequences. "We cannot go from attack to attack and show consternation (...), but must actually change something."
Incident shortly before the security conference
It was initially unclear whether the attack would have an impact on the Munich Security Conference, which begins on Friday just two kilometers from the scene of the attack. More than 60 heads of state and government and more than 100 ministers are expected to attend the world's most important meeting of security policy experts - including US Vice President J.D. Vance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj and German Chancellor Scholz.
There is no indication "that there is any connection with the security conference", says Interior Minister Herrmann after the crime. The young man's motive is still unclear. "At the moment, we are indeed assuming that the target group here, that the victims from the ranks of this Verdi demonstration were more of a coincidence," says Herrmann. "But of course this also needs to be investigated."
