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LAST UPDATE | 19 Aug 2020
AN IRAQI-BORN man deliberately drove his car into motorcycles along a stretch of Berlin motorway, leaving at least one person in a life-threatening condition in what German officials said was a terror attack.
“According to the current state of our investigation, we assume this was an Islamist-motivated attack,” Berlin’s senator for the interior Andreas Geisel said.
“A religiously motivated background cannot be excluded.”
Six people were injured, three of them severely, when the 30-year-old man allegedly drove into several vehicles and intentionally hit into motorcycles yesterday evening, Berlin prosecutors and police said in a joint statement.
The crashes at three different locations happened during rush hour shortly before 7pm local time and led to a complete closure of one of the main traffic arteries of Berlin.
Investigators did not reveal the man’s identity, as is customary in Germany, but local media identified the suspect as Sarmad D.
He is being investigated for three cases of attempted murder.
“The fact that the suspect was possibly suffering from psychological problems does not make this issue any easier,” Geisel said.
“If personal problems mix with religiously loaded ideas, this can lead to uncontrollable acts – yesterday’s events have shown in a very painful way how vulnerable our society is.”
Police and prosecutors said they were investigating if the suspect was linked to any terrorist group but had not found any indications of that yet.
The suspect, who was driving a black Opel Astra, stopped on the motorway after the third crash and put an old ammunition box on the roof of his car, claiming it had explosives inside, the statement said.
Several media reported that the man shouted “allahu akbar” or “God is great” as he got out of his car.
The Bild daily reported that he also shouted: “Nobody gets closer, or you will all die.”
The suspect then rolled out a prayer carpet and started praying, daily paper Tagesspiegel reported.
A police officer of Arabic immigrant background then approached the man, talked to him in Arabic, pulled him away from the car and detained him, the paper reported.
According to Tagesspiegel, the man is known to Berlin police.
He was born in Baghdad in 1990 and lived in a refugee home in Berlin.
In 2018, he was detained for injuring others and taken to a mental institution for a short time, Tagesspiegel reported.
Dpa reported that the suspect allegedly made references to his plans on Facebook before the attack.
He posted photos of the car that he later used in the attack, as well as religious writings, it said.
After the man was detained, hundreds of people stuck on the motorway nearby were led away from their cars.
Specialists opened the box with a strong jet of water but found only tools inside.
Among the three severely injured people, one is in a life-threatening condition, dpa reported.
One of the three was a firefighter going home from work, Geisel said.
It was not clear if he was the one who is in a life-threatening condition.
“If a car intentionally targets motorcycles, they don’t have a chance,” Geisel said.
The incident led to long traffic jams.
The people who were led away from the site where the suspect was detained and others who were stuck on the motorway for hours were getting support from the German Red Cross, the Berlin fire department said.
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What about the crisis of bullying in SinnFein Peadair?
@Dave Sherman: they have procedures in place aka kangaroo court.
@Paul: Was the kangaroo court not when Enda Kenny used Dail privilege to act as judge and jury against people who had already been acquitted in a court of law?
@Dave Sherman: What about, what about, what about…
@Dermo Adams: nah the Kangaroo Court was when the provos subjected victims of sexual abuse to paramilitary courts
@Incognito: Hypocrite of the highest order that’s what.
@Dermo Adams: who are u referring to?
and some people wonder why the Shinners have 13% of the vote. This hypocrisy might work in Norn Iron but not down here sunshine
@Dave Sherman:
So all that is needed is for SF to be accused of something and everyone else can join in and do the same !!!.. I don’t think so Dave.
@Dave Sherman: will u cut that out Jerry said it never happened
@Dave Sherman: is it just me or do all SF representatives look like older toerags
@Dave Sherman:
I agree with you completely !!!!!!
as a very long time member of
Sinn Fèin I shall not be renewing
my membership because of the intimidation and bullying I have
Witnessed at grass roots level
Even from yourself Peadar. !!!!!!!
@Dave Sherman: Their Ard Fheis is coming up this weekend, Have to have something to Deflect the Sheep’s Attention from the widespread Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation going on around them and the fact that the partys vote ( in last few opinion polls ) is going down, down and down .. lol ..
@For Connolly: Was ‘sunshine’ a Pink Floyd reference?
SF giving a moral lecture on bullying is a bit like bank executives giving a lecture on always putting the customer first…..Thoes with mortgage difficulties….
PMSL! Same way they like to think they’re a bunch of peacemakers
@Diarmuid: hilarious! Forgot to check the calendar, is today the first day of April?
@Diarmuid: Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Loser.
@Diarmuid: I did. Unless he’s calling out the widely reported culture of bullying in SF, he’s a bland hypocrite. Much like SF going public on wanting to sell easter lillies on the same day their abject failure in makey uppey government was highlighted.
@Diarmuid: “bringing it into talks” – suppose someone needed to represent that terrorist organisation while it was surrendering and handing over its weapons. Lucky for Jorry he got cushy British public sector jobs out of it.
Diarmuid – have you been possessed by a evil ghost?
@Diarmuid: The new Diarmuid is Dermo Adams. If he wants to troll he shouldn’t verbatim his comments from this mornings defence of Gerry Adams.
@Diarmuid: He brought about peace by stopping killing people. Bravo…….slow handclap.
@Honeybadger197: the Risen must have been banned…… must hurt the poor fella.
@Diarmuid:
I see what you did there. Checkmate & Bravo!
Im more interested to know why Journal has refused to report his comments on 8th Amendment Committee……
@Paul: what comments? Care to elaborate? Genuinely curiosity.
@Paul: Afraid of a kneecapping?
They haven’t gone away you know!
@Geffrey Kane: he has called out the committee been pro abortion. SF have said his comments do not represent party position.
@Paul: “he has called out the committee been pro abortion”
Eh?
@Paul: “being”
@Paul: “being” Of course they don’t represent the party position – they’re still pro-killing children in their mother’s wombs, much the same as ISIS philosophy really.
A SF TD lecturing on bullying and harassment. I have heard it all. Have they no shame or integrity.
I don’t support SF but I’m unconvinced that the problem of bullying and harassment in Ireland is exclusively confined to the SF Party.
Lol these Shinners are a funny bunch
Start with your own party peadar,clean it up.until then sf have no credibility on the issue.
Interesting, a senior SF td condemning bullying… they must be trying to deflect from their own issues
Peadar Toibin wishes to harrass and bully women who aren’t antichoice like him.
Has Peadar got a soundbite in the widely reported culture of bullying in his own party? This must be like SF announcing Easter Lily sales on the same day the utter failure of their pretend governance of the North is exposed.
@CloneDiarmuid: just like the shinners? : )
A bit rich coming from him of all people. Fully appreciate that the Arts & Heritage sector has a major sexual harassment issue. But really, this is fake indignation from an anti-choice zealot who thinks women’s lives are no more important than the content of a discarded condom. He couldn’t give a toss, so to speak, about women’s rights.
@Emo101: you mean not pro–death for defenceless babies. Shinners may have stopped killing grown-ups but innocent children are still fair game for slaughter as far as they’re concerned.
@JMac: If you can’t tell the difference between an actual baby and sperm, read a biology book, not TheJournal.
Special Communications Unit Mobilisation!
Incoming!
@Jarlath Murphy: Yeah don’t think you need a SCU to call out utter SF hypocrisy.
How many SF Councillors is that to have resigned or been sacked due to bullying now?
What a dufus!
The calibre of shinner politician is farcical.
the impersonating shinner bot who was banned a few years back?
@We’re Jammin’: Yeah I was trolled by a shinner bot with the same name in the past. Thankfully he/she was banned. Why do you care Diarmuid?
Hi everyone,
Please ignore the clone account above. As you can see from the ’5Y’ (5 year contributor) symbol under my name, this is the original.
I will be reporting the above account in the morning.
Best wishes
WJ
@We’re Jammin’: looks like one of the guilty shinner bots is back ^
Any idea how a different photo and proper grammar on a Bob Marley song is a clone?
PMSL!
@were jammin: so you have we’re jamming, For Connolly, the Risen and Francis McCarthy? How do you keep up?
@Jane: sorry were jammin
@were jammin: It really is disrespectful to contributors who just want to comment and discuss the actual article above.
@Jane: You’re fine Jane. It’s easy to get mixed up with the abuses of posting privileges that are happening around these parts all too often.
@Jane: me thinks the “Risen” was banned.
Pfizer took an action for copyright infringement : )
ah I get it now – Jammin’s “Risen” was banned so he set up clone accounts to troll Diarmuid, but is offended by supposed clone accounts
trying to be a bully on an article about shinner bullying : )
confused little shinner : )
@For Connolly: when you see ‘good lad’ you’ll know it’s him
@Diarmuid: a clone account angry about clone accounts PMSL : )
Silly little shinner : )
Good lad : )
Somebody really needs to put some sort of filter on this site to prevent children from posting.
No bullying in Sinn Fein If this is all you have to speak on you are overpaid for doing nothing but making a fool of yourself
The words “Deflection and Distraction” comes to mind … Also the expression “Titanium Bulletproof Necks” also comes to mind with any reps from Gerry Adams party accusing others of Bullying or Intimidation/Harassment … Concentrate on sorting out their own house first, before trying to Deflect peoples attention towards other peoples houses …
People in glasshouses should not fire stones ,i am against all forms of bullying ,be it political ,social or economic .
he’s a looker.
You have to wonder about people who attack Sinn Féin (no I am not a member), rather than address the serious issue Deputy Tobín aided. They seem to be like the judges who give suspended or lenient sentences to men who beat and brutalise women….. a very disturbing mindset
Why is an intelligent and talented man like Peadar focusing on such relatively trivial nonsense?
Sinn Fein need to get off the hard left Utopian bandwagon and become more pragmatic and inclusive….
There are similar issues of abuse of power in other state-funded bodies, such as within the health service. I find this very disappointing in this day and age. You’d think we’d have learned from all of the past cover-ups in this country.
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