Assassination attempt on Henriette Reker

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The assassination attempt on Henriette Reker on October 17, 2015, one day before her election as mayor of Cologne , was carried out by right-wing extremist Frank S. He seriously injured Reker and another woman with a knife, and three other people slightly. As an alderman for social affairs, integration and the environment of the city ​​of Cologne , Reker was also responsible for the municipal accommodation of refugees in the context of the refugee crisis in Germany . The public prosecutor's office assumed a “clearly xenophobic background”. The assassin was later sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for attempted murder.

attack

Course of events

Crime scene the afternoon after the attack

The attack took place on October 17, 2015, one day before the mayoral election in Cologne . The non-party candidate for the mayor's office entered a weekly market in the Braunsfeld district around 9 a.m. to be present at the election stands of the Cologne CDU , Greens and FDP , who jointly supported her candidacy, and distributed roses. Shortly afterwards, at the CDU stand, Reker was asked by the perpetrator whether he could have one, and suddenly stabbed her in the neck with a 30 centimeter Bowie knife - her windpipe was almost completely severed. He then injured four other people, one of them seriously. As it turned out later, the perpetrator was carrying a second, smaller, so-called butterfly knife with him.

At 9:04 a.m. a call was received at the emergency call center of the Cologne fire brigade , at 9:09 a.m. the first police officers arrived at the scene. There the perpetrator, whose overcoming was assisted by a federal police officer who happened to be present , was arrested. A doctor, who was also privately present, provided first aid until other rescue workers arrived . Reker survived the attack after an emergency operation at the University Hospital in Cologne . One day later, while still in an artificial coma in the intensive care unit , she won the mayoral election .

In an open letter dated November 6, 2015, Henriette Reker thanked, among other things, "the people who protected me in the highest danger [...] and helped fend off the attacker," and announced that she would take office as soon as possible her health is possible. On November 20, 2015, after completing the rehabilitation treatment, Reker finally took office as Lord Mayor.

More injured

In addition to the actual target of the attack, four other people were injured, including the secondary school teacher and CDU politician Marliese Berthmann. Berthmann was stabbed in the left groin by the perpetrator with a butterfly knife and was scarred from the attack. The FDP councilwoman Katja Hoyer suffered a stab wound on her left cheek. Anette von Waldow (FDP) was injured by two stings. Pascal Siemens (Greens) suffered a deep cut in his right arm.

Perpetrator

According to the police, the perpetrator Frank S. is an unemployed trained painter and varnisher from Cologne-Nippes , 44 years old at the time of the crime , who, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, acted for xenophobic motives. According to media reports, he committed the act out of dissatisfaction with Henriette Rekers' asylum policy in the context of the refugee crisis . According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's statement, the perpetrator wanted to create a climate of fear among all people housed in refugee shelters. Frank S. spoke to police officers shortly after his arrest with the words "I wanted to kill them to do Germany and the police a favor" and "I did not want to live in a Muslim society in 20 years". Frank S's political background goes back to the militant neo-Nazi Freedom German Workers' Party (FAP), with which he maintained contact in the early 1990s. At the time of the offense, Frank S. had several criminal records: In 1996, 1997 and 1998 the Bonn District Court convicted Frank S. of assault.

A blocking entry in the file of Frank S. at the Employment Agency led to speculation about a possible link between Frank S. and the Protection of the Constitution and a possible use as an undercover agent . Volker Beck , domestic policy spokesman for the Bundestag parliamentary group of the Greens and Cologne MPs, said that the classification of the files as secret made people “prick up their ears”. As part of a parliamentary question, the Greens asked about the findings of the Federal Criminal Police Office, the state police authorities and all constitutional protection authorities about the background of Frank S. A similar query was made by the non-attached member of the state parliament, Daniel Schwerd, to the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. The file lock is said to have been set up after the attack. According to Jörg Rademacher, spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Frank S. “again” attracted the authority's attention in 2008 “because he showed interest in the NPD ”.

Criminal proceedings

Investigations into attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm in four cases were initiated against the perpetrator Frank S. During a house search on October 17, investigators found a "swept clean" apartment in which nothing could be found "that suggests his past". On 18 October he was in the prison Cologne - Ossendorf in custody taken. On October 19, Attorney General Peter Frank took over the investigation. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, Frank S. wanted to set “a signal” against what he saw as the increasing number of refugees accepted by the Federal Republic. According to a joint press release of the Cologne public prosecutor and the police headquarters in Cologne from October 17, 2015 of the perpetrator were "no grounds for excluding after making an initial psychological evaluation criminal responsibility before the attacker." During his placement in the prison in Cologne, a second psychological report was made, according to which the perpetrator was regarded as "below average intelligent" but still guilty. Frank S. stated to doctors and psychologists that he had “drunk up courage” before his act. On October 28, 2015, the Attorney General issued an arrest warrant for the assassin. On February 2, 2016, she brought charges against him for attempted murder and assault in five cases, which are being heard by the State Security Senate at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court . On July 1, 2016, Frank S. was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempted murder.

Reactions

The attack had a great media response and was also picked up internationally. Reker received over 80 interview requests in the first few weeks, including from the New York Times and the BBC .

Solidarities

Call to vote “now more than ever”.

On the day of the attack, numerous citizens and representatives of North Rhine-Westphalian state politics formed a human chain in front of the Cologne city hall as a sign of solidarity with Reker and against violence. The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft described the attack as an "attack on us all".

The Irish rock band U2 dedicated the song Pride to Reker at their Cologne appearance on the day of the deed . The Gelsenkirchen soccer club FC Schalke 04 was "shocked by the extent of radicalization, hatred and violence" and publicly conveyed wishes to Henriette Reker to get well. The opera director Bruno Berger-Gorski brings the assassination attempt in connection with the refugee crisis to the stage in his staging of Josef Tal's Israeli chamber opera “The Garden” in the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn .

Classifications and demands

Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière described the attack as “cowardly” and “further evidence of the increasing radicalization of the refugee debate”. He was "long concerned about the hateful language and violent actions". Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas blamed the xenophobic demonstration alliance Pegida , since Pegida was lowering the inhibition threshold for “turning words into deeds”.

Federal politicians from various parties also accused Pegida of having prepared the ground for the attack. The deputy CDU federal chairman Armin Laschet urged Pegida followers to “look to Cologne” and warned of people who “may be incited to deeds by dangerous words and images”. The SPD general secretary Yasmin Fahimi described the Pegida organizers as "enemies of democracy" and "intellectual arsonists" and blamed rights for the poisoned climate from which the attack had grown. The federal chairwoman of the Left, Katja Kipping , also stated “a new audacity, including a new escalation of violence” that could affect anyone when “the brown mob gets going. [...] Pegida, AfD and Co. clearly fueled a social mood that then leads to such terrifying attacks. "

Gerd Landsberg , managing director of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities , called for an unspecified tightening of criminal law in order to better protect politicians from threats and acts of violence. Threatening emails and hate comments should be reported to a central collection point. Aiman ​​Mazyek , chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany , said that “if the perpetrator is portrayed as a long-term unemployed person, then his right-wing extremist actions are subtly appeased” and “in the area of ​​religious extremism, such trivializing or explanatory moments are rightly not included at any time introduced".

Scientific classification

The social psychologist Andreas Zick from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University explained that right-wing extremist hate crime is not an exclusively East German phenomenon and referred to numerous attacks against asylum shelters in West Germany . Zick calls for the development of “prevention strategies for radicalization processes” as well as “scientific analyzes of such acts in order to develop early warning systems”.

For right-wing extremism researcher Armin Pfahl-Traughber , it is a " right-wing terrorist act".

Web links

Commons : Assassination attempt on Henriette Reker  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Berger and Sarah Brasack: This is how the eyewitnesses experienced the attack on Henriette Reker. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 17, 2015, accessed on October 19, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Willi Keinhorst, Frank Überall : The perpetrator asked for a rose, then he stabbed. In: Welt Online. October 17, 2015, accessed October 19, 2015 .
  3. ^ Andi Goral: Assassination attempt on Reker - xenophobic attack. In: www.report-k.de. Retrieved October 19, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Focus Online: He overpowered the stabber: Policeman becomes hero. October 17, 2015, accessed October 18, 2015 .
  5. ^ Rheinische Post: Knife attack in Cologne: Reker out of danger. Retrieved October 18, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Lukas Koschnitzke: Election victory in the intensive care unit. In: ZEIT ONLINE. Retrieved October 19, 2015 .
  7. ^ Henriette Reker: Open letter from Lord Mayor Henriette Reker. In: City of Cologne. November 6, 2015, accessed November 8, 2015 .
  8. ^ After the assassination attempt: Cologne mayor Reker takes up service . In: Spiegel Online . November 20, 2015 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 20, 2015]).
  9. ↑ Sarah Brasack: Victim of the assassination attempt: She wanted to save Henriette Reker from the assassin. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . October 23, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Martina Windrath, Manfred Reinnarth: Injured after the attack in Cologne: "He stood in front of me like a gorilla". In: Kölnische Rundschau . October 18, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger: We know that about assassin Frank S. Retrieved on October 17, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Author abbreviations "with" and "afp": arrest warrant for attempted murder against Reker assassin Frank S. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. October 28, 2015, accessed October 30, 2015 .
  13. ^ Christian Rath: Danger to the reputation of the Federal Republic abroad. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. October 29, 2015, accessed October 30, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Andreas Damm, Tim Attenberger, Detlef Schmalenberg, Tim Stinauer: Assassin still wishes Reker death. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 20, 2015, accessed on October 21, 2015 .
  15. ^ Spiegel Online: Assassination attempt on Cologne's OB candidate: Knife stabber has a right-wing extremist past. Retrieved October 19, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Jörg Diehl: Alleged assassin from Cologne: The lonely hatred of Frank S. In: Spiegel Online . October 21, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Christian Wiermer: Greens ask: Did Frank S. have connections with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution? Express, October 21, 2015, accessed October 22, 2015 .
  18. ^ Daniel Schwerd: Secrets in the unemployed history of the Reker assassin? October 21, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Detlef Schmalenberg: Frank S. lied to investigators about Hartz IV past. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 21, 2015, accessed on October 22, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Oliver Meyer, Solveig Giesecke, Christian Wiermer: In Berlin they want clarity now: The V-man trace of the Reker assassin. In: Express.de . October 21, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  21. ↑ Zeit Online: Expert considers assassin to be fully culpable. Retrieved October 18, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Daniel Taab: Frank S. "deleted" his previous life. Assassination attempt on Henriette Reker. Kölnische Rundschau , October 19, 2015, accessed on October 23, 2015 .
  23. ^ Spiegel Online: Knife attack in Cologne: Federal Prosecutor's Office takes over the investigation into the Reker case. October 19, 2015, accessed October 19, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Press office of the Cologne Police Headquarters: POL-K: 151018-3 K Knife attack on election campaign stand - custody is requested. Retrieved October 18, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Daniel Taab: Frank S. had drunk courage. In: Kölnische Rundschau. October 23, 2015, accessed October 25, 2015 .
  26. ^ Reker - arrest warrant after attack on Cologne mayor. In: Deutschlandfunk . October 28, 2015, archived from the original on October 29, 2015 ; accessed on October 28, 2015 .
  27. ↑ Annette Ramelsberger : Attack on OB candidate: Attorney General brings charges against the Cologne assassin. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 2, 2016.
  28. ↑ sms / dpa: knife attack on Cologne mayor: 14 years imprisonment for Reker assassins. In: Spiegel Online . July 1, 2016, accessed July 1, 2016 .
  29. ^ Judgment: 14 years imprisonment for Reker attackers - Rhineland - Nachrichten - WDR. In: wdr.de. July 1, 2016, archived from the original on July 2, 2016 ; accessed on July 1, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Christine Meyer: Attack on Henriette Reker in the international focus. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , October 19, 2015. For example:
    Le Monde : une candidate à la mairie de Cologne poignardée
    The Guardian : German mayoral candidate stabbed in attack linked to migrants policy
    El País : Apuñalada la favorita a la alcaldía de Colonia por su política de asilo
    Rzeczpospolita : Atak nożownika dzień przed wyborami
    CNN : Mayoral candidate with liberal refugee stance stabbed in Germany.
    de Volkskrant : Neergestoken burgemeesterskandidate wint Verkiezingen clubs.
    La Repubblica : aggression xenofoba, Reker eletta sindaco di Colonia
    The standard : Cologne mayor candidate after attack out of danger to life.
    Aftonbladet : Främlingshat of Bakom tysk knivattack. .
  31. ↑ Susanne Happe: Interview with Cologne's Lord Mayor: Henriette Reker about the assassination attempt, selfies and time for private matters. In: Kölnische Rundschau , December 14, 2015.
  32. ↑ Andreas Damm: Interview requests to Henriette Reker: The "New York Times" has to wait. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , December 17, 2015.
  33. ↑ Human chain against violence in Cologne. ( Memento from October 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: Westdeutscher Rundfunk , October 17, 2015.
  34. ↑ Hannelore Kraft : Short message on Twitter , October 18, 2015.
  35. ↑ Concert in the Lanxess Arena: U2 inspires fans in Cologne - Bono dedicates a song to Reker. In: Kölnische Rundschau , October 18, 2015.
  36. ↑ Peter Peters : Short message on Twitter, October 23, 2015.
  37. ^ Markus Schwering: Opera in Bonn: Attack on Henriette Reker comes on stage. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , November 13, 2015.
  38. ↑ Martin Niewendick, Jürgen Zurheide, Frank Jansen: knife attack on Henriette Reker: Thomas de Maizière sees "evidence of radicalization of the refugee debate." In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 17, 2015.
  39. ^ After the assassination attempt on OB candidate Henriette Reker - Justice Minister Maas: "Pegida lowers inhibitions". In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 18, 2015.
  40. ^ Karl Doemens: After the attack on Henriette Reker: "Spiritual arsonists" - clear politician words to Pegida. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung , October 19, 2015.
  41. ↑ Gerd Landsberg in conversation with Bettina Klein : After the assassination attempt in Cologne: “Don't just react with outrage and concern”. In: Deutschlandradio , October 19, 2015.
  42. ↑ Central Council of Muslims warns. Mazyek: Don't depoliticize attacks by the right. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , October 19, 2015.
  43. ↑ Markus Decker: "The hatred is compatible". Frankfurter Rundschau, October 19, 2015, accessed on October 19, 2015 .
  44. ^ Armin Pfahl-Traughber : A discussion in the light of terrorism research. The attack on Henriette Reker . Humanistic Press Service , October 20, 2015.