Islamist motive
Söder: “This is not a classic assassin situation”
Following the attack in Munich, the police are now assuming an "Islamist motive" for the crime. In his interrogation, the 24-year-old Afghan confessed to deliberately driving into the crowd of a demonstration on Thursday. An arrest warrant is to be applied for against him for 36 counts of attempted murder.
The number of people injured has now risen to 36, two of them seriously, as the police announced on Friday at a press conference on the current state of the investigation. There was no news about the state of health of the seriously injured - including a two-year-old girl.
The investigators confirmed that Farhad N. had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) in the presence of the investigators before his arrest. During his interrogation, he also stated that he had "deliberately driven into the demonstration train". Farhad N. is to be brought before an investigating judge on Friday.
Investigators assume an "Islamist motive" for the crime
Senior public prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann of the Bavarian Central Office for Extremism and Terrorism (ZET) now assumes an "Islamist motive" for the crime. Whether there were links to the Islamic State (IS) or another extremist organization had not yet been conclusively determined, but there were "currently no indications of this".
In the subsequent round of questions from media representatives, the police representatives stated that there was nothing to suggest that the suspect had psychological problems, as there were "no indications of this", explained Tilmann. A psychiatric assessment would be carried out. However, the perpetrator will probably not be placed in a psychiatric institution, but in custody.
The investigators are now evaluating the suspect's cell phone and his social media activities. According to Tilmann, this is still at the very beginning. Farhad N. had posted religious content on social media and also made religious comments in WhatsApp groups.
Authorities correct information about suspects
Representatives of the Munich police and the State Office of Criminal Investigation also commented on Friday on the false information that had been spread by the authorities and the state government after the crime. There had been a "chaos phase" in which a lot of information had been "virulent", said Munich's police vice-president Christian Huber. "It takes a certain amount of time to get a picture."
Approximately two hours after the shooting spree, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann and Prime Minister Markus Söder (both CSU) addressed a crowd of media representatives on Thursday and explained that the perpetrator was known to the police. He had become conspicuous through shoplifting and drug offenses - however, he could not have been deported. The statement implied that the 24-year-old should have left the country long ago and was therefore "obliged to leave".
The suspect had previously been rather inconspicuous. He was not required to leave the country. And previous extremist backgrounds are not so easily recognizable at first glance.
Bayerns Ministerpräsident Markus Söder (CSU)
On Thursday evening, Söder clarified that the man was not required to leave the country and had a valid residence permit despite the rejected asylum application. In 2020, the rejection was confirmed by the court, but because Farhad N. had attended school in Munich and completed an apprenticeship, he was allowed to stay in Germany.
Perpetrator worked as a store detective
The fact that the 24-year-old was "known to the police" was also put into the wrong context by Herrmann. The man was known from previous investigations - but as a witness "from his previous job as a store detective". Söder said in the ZDF interview on Thursday evening that minor proceedings against Farhad N. had been dropped. He has no criminal record.
Huber did not want to answer the question of who had originally provided the false information. He said it was understandable that it was initially wrongly assumed that the suspect was known for criminal offenses because he was registered in a shoplifting system. The information came from "police files", but it was unclear who passed it on and how.
Bodybuilding competitions and Islamic intercessions
The suspect's social media profile is now being examined in detail. In particular, profiles on Instagram and Tiktok, which police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution assume are most likely his. According to research by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper, nothing in his profiles - which can no longer be accessed - should indicate an extremist attitude at first glance.
According to "Spiegel" research, Farhad N. is a Muslim. He professed this in his profile, published greetings after Friday prayers and gave a kind of "digital" sermon a few days before the crime. However, not all of the religious content he shared was harmless: N. disseminated videos of a Salafist preacher from North Rhine-Westphalia with hundreds of thousands of followers. A few days before the rampage, he posted a picture of himself with two young men and wrote Islamic prayers. One later entry stood out in particular: "Delete all those who are bad for Islam."
Apparently, he took part in bodybuilding competitions and had a penchant for fancy clothes and expensive jewelry. The last picture shows the alleged owner of the profile wearing a jacket and sneakers that resemble his clothes when he was arrested. It also shows a photo of him posing next to a cream-colored Mini Cooper - a car like the one used in the crime.
Mini Cooper is registered to perpetrator
The investigators confirmed the information that had already come to light after the crime: At around 10.30 a.m., a man drove behind the demonstration, overtook a police car, accelerated and steered into the demonstration procession, which also included parents with small children. The police shot in his direction and arrested him. The Mini Cooper was registered to him.
No evidence of foreign influence
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there are no indications of foreign influence in the recent attacks in Germany. In the last two months there have been attacks in Aschaffenburg and Magdeburg as well as Munich. A ministry spokesperson emphasized that the security authorities were on high alert, but that there was no connection with the Bundestag elections.
The demonstration was part of the warning strikes in the public sector and was organized by Verdi. Around 1500 people were on their way to the final rally at Königsplatz when the car plowed into the crowd. Despite the incident, the union did not cancel its events planned for Friday in Bavaria. In the evening, flowers were laid at the scene and candles were lit. Special forces secured evidence into the night and the State Criminal Police Office was deployed.
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