One person was killed and at least 29 others injured on Saturday when a van plowed into a crowd near Berlin’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival, with the attacker—who wounded some of his victims with a machete after crashing—later shot dead by police, who said he was a suspected Islamic extremist.
The attack occurred Saturday evening during the Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebration—named after where New York’s Stonewall Inn is located—following the main parade near the Tiergarten area near the Brandeburg Gate. In what German authorities have officially designated a terrorist attack, police said a 21-year-old German-Lebanese man, identified as Abdul Ballout, drove his van into a crowd before assaulting people with a machete.
One woman, whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed, was killed.
On Sunday, police located Ballout in the Berlin suburb of Spandau. Police said Ballout was fatally shot as he ran toward officers with a sharp object.
Berlin prosecutors said Ballout traveled to Syria last year while trying to join the so-called Islamic State militant group. According to The Associated Press, Ballout was arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for incitement. He was arrested again upon returning to Germany, where he received a suspended sentence from a juvenile court for publishing pro-Islamic State messages on Instagram and preparing an act of serious violence threatening the state.
During a Sunday press conference, a CSD spokesperson implored people not to use the attack “for political ends.”
“People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others,” he said. “At the CSD in Berlin, we will not allow this.”
However, far-right leaders in Germany and beyond blamed “Islamism.” Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, said on X that “we will not allow religious extremists to divide our country with violence and intolerance."
Numerous X users pushed back, with one saying, “You constantly incite against queer people and are now exploiting the attack for your disgusting incitement!”
Andre Lehmann of LSVD+, Germany’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, said, “We are simply stunned by what happened," adding that the attack “hits the heart of the queer community.”
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said on social media that the assault was “an attack on our free and open society.”
“After a peaceful and colorful CSD, the assembly for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal way,” he continued. “Berlin is the city of freedom—and our freedom has been attacked in the most horrific way today.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters at a Saturday press conference outside the Marienkirche in central Berlin: “What a heinous act in Berlin. This attack on peaceful Christopher Street Day celebrants is an assault on our open, tolerant society. We will investigate it with utmost severity.”
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this Islamist terrorist attack,” Merz continued. “I wish those who sustained injuries a swift recovery.”
The Christian Democratic Union chancellor thanked first responders for “intervening as quickly as possible, which could well have prevented an even worse outcome last night.”
“Let us not be intimidated by these crimes,” Merz added. “They want to divide our society, they want to take the most important thing that we have: namely, our open society, our liberal society.”
The climate action group Fridays for Future Germany posted on X: “We are devastated. Yesterday’s attack on the Berlin CSD was an attack on all of us. Our thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and all those who had to witness this attack. Now is the time for solidarity with the queer community.”
LGBTQ+ advocates and their allies around the world condemned the attack and offered their condolences and solidarity.
In the Slovakian capital Bratislava, the gay bar Tepláreň—where a far-right extremist teen shot and killed two people in 2022—posted on Instagram: “We are thinking of you, friends in Berlin. It is with great sadness that we are watching the terrible news. We express our deepest condolences to the victims, their loved ones, and everyone who has been affected by these events.”
Extremism “is growing dangerously worldwide,” the bar added. “People blinded by hate and lies threaten our communities, threatening our chance to coexist in peace.”
“Prides are meant to be a place where all can feel safe, welcome, and seen,” the rapid response team at the US group Human Rights Campaign said on social media. “We are sending our love to the victims, their families, and the entire city of Berlin today.”
People gathered for vigils across Germany and around Europe and the world Sunday to mourn and condemn the attack. In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in rainbow colors, with the message “Berlin, City of Freedom” projected beneath its Quadriga sculpture, as people took part in a candlelit vigil.
“There was so much joy here yesterday,” Luise V., who attended both CSD and a vigil near the site of the attack, told Berliner Zeitung. “Today I had to face it and come here, also to process what happened."
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