A Syrian migrant who threatened multiple people with a knife and made racist remarks was arrested on Tuesday in the city of Neubrandenburg in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Police then admitted him to a hospital clinic for evaluation.
The Syrian has been involved in several incidents, with one victim telling regional news portal Nordkurier that he was walking his dog last Thursday when the suspect approached him and stopped him. The suspect then grabbed him by the belt and said, “F**king German, I’ll kill you.”
The victim may have been saved by his dog, who stood protectively in front of his owner. The victim told the man to leave, at which point the Syrian left the scene while making additional threats.
However, the Syrian was not done, and 20 minutes later, he approached a car at an intersection and immediately tried to stab a man who was sitting inside his car with the window open. The Syrian had a 10-centimeter blade during the attack but the victim managed to speed away from the scene.
On Monday, the same suspect again, this time armed with a butter knife, approached another vehicle that contained two Russians. He stopped their car and said he would kill their families. One of the Russians knocked the knife out of the Syrian’s hand, at which point the Syrian tried to punch the man.
The police arrived on the scene and handcuffed the Syrian, who was screaming that he wanted to kill everyone.
The police already had one opportunity to take the perpetrator off the streets, as he had been arrested on June 19 for threatening a man with a knife. However, he was released from custody at that time.
Migrants from Africa and the Middle East have led to a surge in knife attacks across Europe, including in Germany, where 50 knife attacks are recorded every day. Many of the victims have also been young women and children.
Last month, a Syrian asylum seeker stabbed four children and two adults on a playground in Annecy, France, making international headlines and leading to sharp debates about the continuing perils of mass immigration.
Just this week, a 27-year-old Eritrean was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing a young schoolgirl to death in Illerkirchberg while she was waiting at the bus stop with her friend; the friend was also severely stabbed but survived.
The local district administration had denied the man travel documents to travel to Ethiopia where he wanted to get married and then bring his wife back to Germany. Shortly thereafter, he went on a stabbing spree, which the judge said was “motivated by hatred.” Police also found notebooks in the man’s apartments in which he described Germans as “dirty people” who were “just like pigs.”