Police had been monitoring perpetrator of Berlin Pride attack for weeks via a camera at his home

©Margaux Bellott via Unsplash

Police had been monitoring the perpetrator of the attack on Berlin Pride for weeks via a camera at his home. According to Bild, his behavior was assessed as “unremarkable,” after which monitoring was scaled back for budgetary reasons.

Based on the camera footage, Abdul Ballout is believed to have left his home shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Saturday evening. About an hour later, a vehicle plowed into participants in the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, killing one person and injuring dozens. The suspect fled after the attack but was shot and killed by police on Sunday evening. The case is raising questions in Germany about how potential extremists are monitored. The police released figures showing that 410 people are currently considered an Islamist threat, while 65 far-right and 17 far-left potential threats are also being monitored. According to the authorities, however, that list is constantly changing and does not fully reflect the overall threat level in the country.

Revoke citizenship?

Meanwhile,Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced stricter measures. He wants to restrict the freedom of movement of potential perpetrators as much as possible and has asked Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to quickly draft a proposal on the matter. Merz also said he was surprised that the suspect, who was known to be a threat, was still able to approach the parade unnoticed. Furthermore, the chancellor does not rule out the possibility that, in certain cases, the citizenship of suspects with dual nationality could be revoked. He emphasized that this is legally much more difficult for someone with only one nationality. Political pressure to tighten security measures is thus mounting rapidly following an attack that has deeply shocked Germany.

©Margaux Bellott via Unsplash - illustrative image of a Pride event.