Germany: Is the knife attacker in Peine an Islamist after all?

Following a knife attack in the Peine district of Lower Saxony in which four people were seriously injured, it has emerged that the attack could have been an Islamist attack, despite press reports to the contrary.

‘According to unconfirmed sources, the knife attacker in Vallstedt is said to be a German convert to Islam, who is said to have told the police that he had been under guidance,’ blogger Anabel Schunke first wrote on the short messaging service X. The news website Nius then also reported on the twist in the case.

Beim Messerangreifer von Vallstedt soll es sich gemäß unbestätigter Quellen um einen zum Islam konvertierten Deutschen handeln, der ggü. der Polizei angegeben haben soll, geleitet worden zu sein.

— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) October 19, 2024

According to the online platform, the police are currently investigating a religious background to the offence. It could not be ruled out ‘that the suspect might have a mental illness’. He made an unstable impression when he was arrested. However, this does not speak against an Islamist motivation. Initially, there was only talk of a crime in a relationship in the media.

The knife attacker is said to have advertised the Quran online
The 32-year-old German was known in the neighbourhood as a convert to Islam and had also promoted his faith on social networks. ‘Read below the pictures. Authentic evidence from Quran and Sunnah and for time and Qadr,’ reads the attacker’s Instagram profile, from which Nius quotes.

With a 20-centimetre-long kitchen knife, he allegedly attacked several people indiscriminately on the street on Friday afternoon. ‘The victims, one woman and three men, were taken to neighbouring hospitals,’ said the Peine police, describing the events. They are 18, 66, 73 and 48 years old respectively, but are now all out of danger. The attacker is said to have surrendered to the police on the spot without resistance.

Knife violence also in Constance, Essen, Dortmund and Nuremberg
There are also reports of serious knife attacks in Essen, Constance, Dortmund and Nuremberg over the weekend, according to research by the website ‘Messerinzidenz’. In Constance, for example, a 26-year-old man was seriously injured by two attackers. In Essen, the police are searching for the perpetrator after an attack on a 34-year-old man.

It is said that he was only prevented from stabbing his victim by the intervention of passers-by. The seriously injured man had to be taken to hospital immediately, but his life is now out of danger.

Ist der Messerangreifer von Peine doch ein Islamist?