The incident took place on May 21 outside the synagogue on Roonstraße in Cologne. According to police sources, the young man had appeared suspicious, FOCUS online has learnt. Reports suggest that he was standing near the synagogue on Roonstraße with his mobile phone, recording footage outside the Jewish community centre that Thursday afternoon.
Security staff at the synagogue became aware of the unknown man via the place of worship’s CCTV system. Once he had finished recording on his mobile phone, the man began making frantic phone calls.
The synagogue’s security staff alerted the police, who secured the Jewish building on Roonstraße. The officers then lay in wait for the suspect and confronted him.
In doing so, he contradicted himself. A check on the police computer revealed that the man in question was 22-year-old Afghan Mohammed S. (name altered)
According to information obtained by FOCUS Online, the man had already been classified as a so-called ‘Islamism case’ following a separate incident. Apparently, the suspected extremist wanted to spy on the Jewish institution. His motive remains unknown.
The case was subsequently taken over by the State Security Service. The suspect allowed investigators access to his mobile phone data without a court order. This revealed chats in which Mohammed S. was attempting to sell several firearms. He had also deleted numerous messages, meaning that, following a preliminary analysis, no videos of the synagogue were found.
The public prosecutor’s office immediately obtained a search warrant from the local court. A laptop, a tablet and several USB sticks were seized from the suspect’s home and are currently being analysed.
Initially, the public prosecutor’s office was investigating only for illegal dealing in weapons. The police have not yet issued a press release regarding the incident. In response to an enquiry from FOCUS online, a press spokesperson confirmed the incident on Thursday. However, as the suspicion of a crime could not be substantiated so far, the man has been released.
Ironically, Mohammed S. and his family benefited early on from a federal government resettlement programme for vulnerable Afghans – so-called “local staff”. According to research by FOCUS online, the family of eight arrived in Germany under this status as early as June 2013.
The family benefited from Section 22(2) of the Residence Act, which provides for the protection of Germany’s political interests.
Apparently, whilst in his home country, the father had provided important information to German forces stationed in the Hindu Kush at the time. When the threat to him and his family appeared to be escalating, the German authorities evacuated the family by plane.