These are disturbing moments that are spreading online: a man is lying on the ground, pinned down by two police officers. Three other officers, wearing protective vests like their colleagues, are securing the area. Next to them are emergency service workers who have arrived in an ambulance. The man lying on the ground, his shoes beside him, repeatedly shouts ‘Allahu akbar’ in Arabic, which means ‘ Allah is great’. This exclamation is often used by assassins and terrorists.
An eyewitness recorded the incident on his mobile phone and then posted the video online. The incident took place yesterday, Tuesday afternoon, at around 2 p.m. in downtown Völklingen. The location of the incident is Hofstattstraße, directly in front of the ‘Ensar Market’. Although the video recordings are spreading like wildfire on social media, the police are concealing the incident from the public, thereby ensuring that rumours are rapidly growing out of control.
Alleged witnesses on the internet report that the man was running around with a knife. Others even claim to know that there was a knife attack. Even a day after the incident, the authorities have not yet informed the public about the high-profile operation. Only when asked did a spokesperson for the Völklingen Criminal Investigation Department report: ‘We were called to a house where a strange man was sleeping in the hallway. When the officers approached him and tried to take him to the waiting ambulance, the situation escalated. He tried to injure the police officers with kicks and headbutts. He did not have a weapon.’
The police officers were not injured during the operation. The shouts of ‘Allahu akbar’ are noted in the operation report. The identity of the unknown man has not yet been determined. Investigations are ongoing. Officers currently estimate him to be in his mid-20s. The man, who is in a state of mental distress, is being treated at the SHG Clinic, where he can now undergo professional treatment.