In the Belgian capital, a 32-year-old attacked two police officers. The authorities listed Yassine M. on a list of endangered persons, at the same time the man was apparently looking for psychological help.
Police officers stand at the scene of the crime in Brussels on Thursday evening, where two of their colleagues were attacked with a knife.
The crime happened on Thursday evening in the Rue d’Aerschot, a run-down street at Brussels North Station. Around 7 p.m., 32-year-old Yassine M. attacked two police officers who were waiting in their patrol car at a red light. Without warning, the perpetrator stabbed the driver in the neck with a knife. Then he attacked the passenger. But just in time he managed to call for reinforcements over his radio.
A police officer summoned put the fleeing assassin out of action with several shots. Yassine M. was arrested and taken to a hospital, as were the two seriously wounded officers. But for the 29-year-old police officer Thomas M. any help came too late. He succumbed to his injuries. His colleague, 23-year-old Jason P., underwent surgery that night. He was no longer in mortal danger, Belgian media later announced.
Perpetrator announced his murder plan
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office immediately began investigations on suspicion of a terrorist motive. Because the assassin himself gave an indication of this, who, according to the passenger, is said to have called “Allahu akbar” (God is great) while attacking his victims. The greeting is ubiquitous in the Arab world, but it is also used as a battle cry by religious extremists.
So has Islamist terrorism once again struck in Brussels? That’s not entirely clear. In a press conference on Friday, the public prosecutor’s office drew the picture of an extremely aggressive but mentally very confused man. Accordingly, Yassine M. had visited a police station hours before the crime, where he spoke of his hatred of the police and at the same time asked for psychological help.
Officials then took him to the psychiatric emergency room at the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels. However, when the police later contacted the facility again, it turned out that Yassine M. had left the hospital again. Why the staff apparently believed that he no longer posed a danger to the general public is the subject of the investigation.
An assassin who reports directly to the police before carrying out his murder plans does not fit the typical profile of a terrorist. According to the public prosecutor, however, Yassine M. is anything but a blank slate for the authorities. The Belgian, who is of Arabic descent, has been on a list of endangered persons by the Belgian anti-terrorist agency Ocam for years, where he is classified as a “potentially violent extremist”.
radicalized in prison
From 2013 to 2019, Yassine M. had to serve a prison sentence for “ordinary crimes”. According to his file, he had become radicalized during this period and was transferred to a special unit at Ittre Prison, where he attacked a prison guard. After his release in June 2019, the Belgian Office for the Protection of the Constitution kept an eye on him; However, he was unable to prevent the attack.
Brussels Mayor Philippe Close described the incident as an “unbearable tragedy”. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was also dismayed. “Our police officers risk their lives every day to ensure the safety of our citizens,” he wrote on Twitter. His thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased officer.
Nos police risquent leur vie au quotidien pour assurer la sécurité de nos citoyens. Le drame d’aujourd’hui le demontre, une fois de plus.
Mes pensées vont à la famille et aux amis de l’officier décédé.
Mon espoir sincère est que son collègue hospitalized se portera bien.
— Alexander De Croo ???? (@alexanderdecroo) November 10, 2022
The country’s police union reacted much more furiously, writing on its Facebook page: “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” One could not understand that the man had been released again. There have been several deadly attacks on the police in Belgium in recent years, most recently in May 2018 a man shot dead two policewomen and a student in Liège. This attack was also classified as terrorist.
The Brussels correspondent Daniel Steinvorth Twitter follow.