Another Islamist attack apparently occurred in Berlin last weekend. According to the newspaper Tagesspiegel, an Iraqi went on the rampage in a hotel in the Charlottenburg district on Saturday and injured an employee.
The perpetrator entered the hotel around noon and beat the employee with his fists, security sources said on Wednesday. The attacked employee fled to the reception. The Iraqi allegedly smashed the glass door of the reception with an iron bar that he had pulled out of the floor. He shouted “I’m going to kill all the people” at the police officers who had been called. He then held up an index finger and shouted “Allah”. This is apparently the so-called tauhid gesture. With the raised index finger, Islamists, but also other Muslims, emphasise the uniqueness of Allah.
The police arrested the perpetrator on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Tiergarten District Court issued an arrest warrant for the 31-year-old at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The reasons given are bodily harm, damage to property and disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit a crime. An Islamist motive is being investigated, security sources said.
A combination with a mental disorder was also possible, but an examination of the Iraqi had not revealed any indications of an illness. The terrorism department of the Attorney General’s Office is investigating the case.The man is said to have been noticed for aggressive behaviour in the past. In a shelter for refugees, he allegedly threatened residents with a knife. The man has been obliged to leave the country for years, and his asylum application was rejected in 2018.
Also on Saturday, as reported, an Afghan stabbed a female gardener in her neck in the Wilmersdorf district. The woman had been pruning bushes in a green area. The perpetrator criticised that a woman was working and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.
The gardener suffered life-threatening injuries and lasting disabilities. A pensioner who tried to assist the victim was also attacked with a knife by the 29-year-old. However, the pensioner’s injuries are less serious.
The perpetrator is in custody for attempted murder. Security circles consider a mixture of Islamist hatred and psychological disorder to be conceivable. He is to be psychologically examined. The man, who lived in a flat in the district of Charlottenburg, is said to have tried to proselytise neighbours to convert to Islam before committing the crime.