SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Police release photos of suspects behind two more Berlin U-Bahn attacks

Berlin police are searching for suspects behind two new cases of people being knocked down U-Bahn stairs or escalators after the high-profile Hermannstrasse attack last year.

Police release photos of suspects behind two more Berlin U-Bahn attacks
A photo released by Berlin police of the Alexanderplatz attack.

Police this week released photos of two similar attacks at Berlin U-Bahn stations in which victims were pushed down either stairs or an escalator.

Photos released on Tuesday depict the 38-year-old victim at the tourist hub of Alexanderplatz falling down a flight of stairs. Police say that on June 11th, an unknown man hit the victim in the head from behind, causing him to fall down the stairs, with his head hitting the metal handrail multiple times.

Police note that there are no indications that the two men knew each other.

As the man fell down the stairs, the perpetrator stood above and watched.

“To see this is always upsetting,” said a police spokeswoman.

As a result, the victim sustained a serious head injury and numerous bruises all over his body, which had to be treated in hospital.

The perpetrator’s face and Chicago Bulls basketball jacket were captured relatively clearly by the security cameras, and police are hoping the release of the images will help them catch him.

“We are optimistic that we will get him,” said the spokeswoman.

Within just a few hours of publishing the photos, police had already received two tips.

Unlike in the high-profile “U-Bahn kicker” case from last October, police decided not to release the full video. Video material is only supposed to be released when all other police search methods have been exhausted.

The footage of last year’s case, depicting a man kicking an unsuspecting woman down the Hermannstrasse U-Bahn station’s stairs, sent shockwaves across Germany and beyond.

SEE ALSO: Berlin 'U-Bahn kicker' sentenced to nearly three years in prison

The perpetrator was ultimately found after the video was released, and last week sentenced to nearly three years in jail.

On Monday, police also released photos to help find two men behind an attack at the Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn station against three other men aged between 20 and 23. This attack took place in January.

Police say three victims were standing on the downward escalator when they heard a loud shout, turned around and saw the duo. One of the perpetrators clung to the handrails while he swung his legs out and kicked the 20-year-old man, who then fell down the moving stairs.

The pair then targeted the 23-year-old, kicking him in the upper body and face. They also reportedly choked the third man, 22, before fleeing. The first two were slightly injured, while the third man remained unharmed.

Photo: Berlin police

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

SHOW COMMENTS