One woman was killed and 29 others injured in an Islamist attack on a Berlin Pride event at Tiergarten Park on Saturday. The perpetrator, Abdul Ballout, rammed a van into the crowds at Berlin’s largest LGBT event, and then went on a stabbing rampage with a machete. Ballout was shot dead by the police in a manhunt on Sunday evening.
According to the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, 21-year-old Ballout, of Lebanese heritage and described as having been part of Berlin’s ‘Islamic scene’, had a criminal record which included assault and robbery convictions as a juvenile in 2022. Last year, Ballout travelled to Lebanon, attempting to join the Islamic State in Syria. In May, Ballout was sentenced to prison for a year and 10 months for ‘preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state’. However, the decision was deferred.
In Germany, this is a repeat of a familiar story. In 2020, 20-year-old Syrian man identified as ‘Abdullah A’ stabbed a gay couple to death in Dresden, having previously faced juvenile conviction for his affiliation with the Islamic State, and having been classified by the authorities as an ‘Islamist threat’. Abdullah A had been found guilty of constructing suicide vests in tandem with Islamic State militants, and was sentenced to two years and nine months in juvenile prison.
