In a suspected radical right-wing and racist attack, a German shot nine people with foreign roots in Hanau, Hesse. Subsequently, the 43-year-old marksman is said to have killed his 72-year-old mother and himself. The man had a “deeply racist outlook”, said Attorney General Peter Frank on Thursday in Karlsruhe.
This resulted in the evaluation of video messages and a kind of manifest on its website. The fatalities were between 21 and 44 years old and had an immigration background. The perpetrator injured six other people, one of them seriously.
The federal prosecutor said: “There is serious evidence of a racist background.” Now check whether the alleged perpetrator had any supporters or supporters for his attack. The environment and contacts of the man at home and abroad would be clarified, said Frank.
Hesse’s interior minister Peter Beuth had previously said that the man had acted alone. “So far there are no indications of other perpetrators.” The alleged perpetrator had not previously been targeted by the investigators. He was neither known as “xenophobic” nor appeared in the police force. In the morning in Wiesbaden, Beuth also said that the Federal Attorney General was investigating a suspected terrorist act – Frank himself did not speak of it in the afternoon.
After a conference call by the interior ministers of the German Confederation and the federal states, the Bavarian department head, Joachim Herrmann, said it was assumed that “it was a radical right-wing, xenophobic background”. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly condemned the act and racism.
Merkel: “Racism is a poison”
“Racism is a poison, hatred is a poison. And this poison exists in our society. And it is to blame for far too many crimes,” said Merkel on Thursday. Steinmeier also assured all people “who are threatened by racist hatred. They are not alone. I am convinced that the vast majority of people in Germany condemn this act and all forms of racism, hatred and violence”.
The German Federal President called on the citizens of Germany to act with mutual consideration and cohesion after the allegedly right-wing terrorist attack in Hanau. “Today is the hour when we have to show that we stand together as a society, we do not allow ourselves to be intimidated, we do not diverge,” he said at a funeral service in Hanau on Thursday evening. Thousands of people took part in vigils in Hesse, and several hundred people, including a number of prominent politicians, also commemorated the victims of the Hanau attack at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Thursday evening. They formed a large human chain around the gate. Some held candles in their hands and placed flowers on the structure. European flags were occasionally seen. A sign read: “We mourn the victims of Hanau, Halle, Kassel, Mölln etc. Stop hatred and agitation in the anti-social media”
Minute of silence at the Berlinale Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival began with a minute’s silence for the victims of the Hanau violence. At the start of the 70th Berlinale, the festival management spoke in favor of tolerance, respect, openness and hospitality. “Our thoughts are with the victims, with the families in Hanau,” said managing director Mariette Rissenbeek on Thursday evening. Minister of Culture Monika Grütters called for the Berlinale to be seen as a polyphonic demonstration against exclusion and against racism. “Never again should people have to fear for their lives in Germany because of their religion, their origin or their skin color,” said the CDU politician, adding: “The reality is different.”
The act of violence also caused dismay internationally. Expressions of sympathy for the victims came from French President Emmanuel Macron, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. Van der Bellen described “the news about the allegedly racist & right-wing motivated murders” in Hanau as terrible. “Such a despicable act must be condemned most severely.”
The Amnesty International Germany organization, however, has called for more staff and determination in the fight against racist violence. “Protection against racism is a human right and a question of internal security. There is an urgent need for better staffing, a trained look and recognition and a more determined approach against racist networks and structures,” said Amnesty on Thursday.
According to the authorities, the alleged gunman Tobias R. comes from Hanau. At around 10 p.m. he opened fire on Wednesday evening in a shisha bar. Then he shot in another bar and kiosk. The Turkish embassy in Berlin said that five Turkish citizens were among the fatalities. The shooter had shot his mother and then himself in his own apartment after the crime, Beuth said. The sports shooter owned the weapons legally – according to the competent authority, he had been given a gun license since 2013 – and was active in a Frankfurt shooting club.
Tobias R .: What you know about the shooter so far
The alleged perpetrator published a video on Youtube a few days before the crime. Below he posted a link to his homepage, where he also reveals a lot of information about himself. The man, Tobias R., was 43 years old and came from Hanau. He is said to have gone to school there too. After high school and community service, he is said to have completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk and studied business administration in Bayreuth.
The shooter is also said to have been legally in possession of a weapon and sports shooter. He was not previously targeted by the investigators. The man was neither known as xenophobic nor appeared in the police force, said the Hessian interior minister Beuth on Thursday in the Wiesbaden state parliament. He condemned the acts of violence. “This is an attack on our free and peaceful society,” said Beuth.
Women haters, marksmen and conspiracy theorists
In his video, Tobias R. speaks in English of a “personal message to all Americans”. The clip was obviously taken in a private apartment. He describes “underground military facilities” in the United States where children are mistreated and killed. There the devil would be paid homage. He also claims that Germany is controlled by a secret service. He is also negative about migrants from Arab countries and Turkey. The video does not contain a reference to an impending act of violence in Germany.
Tobias R. is also said to have been an “Incel”, someone who had no relationship with women and is generally considered a “hater of women”. His letter says that he has lived without a woman for the past 18 years. “Incel” stands for “involuntary celibate”, ie “involuntarily abstaining”. Incels are predominantly white, heterosexual men who believe that women are to blame for their single life.
Trail leads to Austria: Sagittarius is looking for help from intuition trainers
The 24-page manifesto that is available to the SN reveals the confused world of Tobias R. Accordingly, he made connections between the attack on the World Trade Center and his personal life story. R. apparently felt persecuted and, according to his own account, also went to the police. He had increasingly come to the conclusion that he was in the hands of a secret organization. R. finally went to private investigators and the Federal Prosecutor General in 2019. One of these private investigators is said to have recommended R. to a clairvoyant in Lower Austria. No contact should have been made: “But even this gentleman wrote to me a few weeks later that he could not help me,” writes R.
In conversation with the “Niederösterreichische Nachrichten” and the “Kurier”, the Lower Austrian tells about his contact with the German. Tobias R. would have emailed him in the fall and asked for his help as a spiritual trainer. But he said that he had turned off all inquiries, as he says.
Shots were fired at at least four crime scenes: 9 dead
According to the investigators, the first shots were fired at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday evening. Cartridge casings were found on the footpath not far away in a side street.
After that, the perpetrator continued to the Kesselstadt district, about two kilometers away. There he shot five people in another shisha bar. Another crime scene is within walking distance: a kiosk on Kurt-Schumacher-Platz in the middle of a residential area. A car was also shot at. Shortly afterwards, the police and rescue workers were on site in large numbers, securing the areas around the crime scenes extensively.
Thursday morning, the police said they had found the suspect dead in his apartment. The body of the shooter’s 72-year-old mother was also discovered there. The interior minister said the perpetrator had probably shot himself and his mother.
Small town is in shock
The Hessian city of Hanau with around 100,000 inhabitants is about 20 kilometers from Frankfurt am Main. The mayor Claus Kamisnky (SPD) was shocked in a special program of “Bild live”: “It was a terrible evening, which will surely keep us busy for a long, long time and will remain a sad memory.”
A 24-year-old neighbor, who had acquaintances among the victims, said: “We do not know anything like that, we are not at odds with people. We cannot imagine it at all. It was a shock for everyone.”
The Hanau member of the Bundestag Katja Leikert (CDU) tweeted: “On this terrible night in Hanau I wish the relatives of those killed a lot of strength and condolences.” And: “Hopefully a quick recovery for the injured. It is a real horror scenario for all of us. Thanks to all emergency services!”
SN / AP
SN / AP–
Source: SN
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