Thursday, September 16, 2021
Update
Four arrests
There was a risk of an attack on the Hagen synagogue
There are several arrests after the major alarm at a Jewish place of worship in Hagen. Terrorism specialists are now also involved in the investigation. According to a report, a 16-year-old is said to have prepared an explosives attack.
According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul, there was a serious extremist threat in Hagen. “There was a risk of an attack on the synagogue in Hagen,” said Reul. The police said there had been a total of four arrests. Reul had previously confirmed the arrest of a youth. Police forces searched several objects in Hagen. In security circles it was said that an Islamist background was being investigated in connection with the danger situation at the synagogue. The police had reported a dangerous situation the evening before and secured the synagogue.
The “Spiegel” reported that a 16-year-old Syrian had prepared an explosives attack. Accordingly, the police searched the teenager’s apartment in the morning. According to “Spiegel”, the security authorities had received a tip from a foreign secret service. The partner service had warned of a suspected Islamist in Germany who had behaved suspiciously on the Internet. The investigation led to the 16-year-old who lives in Hagen in an apartment with his father. The 16-year-old is said to have spoken in a chat about an explosive attack on a synagogue, the report said.
According to the “Spiegel”, the public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf is investigating the young person on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state. At the request of the dpa news agency, a spokesman for the authority initially only wanted to confirm that the central office for tracking terrorism in North Rhine-Westphalia was involved in the investigation. In the meantime, it was reported from security circles in North Rhine-Westphalia that the Attorney General had been turned on.
Police in constant contact with the Jewish community
Heavily armed police surrounded the synagogue on Wednesday evening. A hundred were on duty, the area around the synagogue was cordoned off over a large area. A planned service on Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holiday, was canceled at short notice. According to police, the measures were completed during the night. “No evidence of a hazard could be found on site,” said the Dortmund police.
The police are still in constant contact with the affected Jewish community. In addition, there is close coordination with the other Jewish communities in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are currently no indications that other facilities are at risk. In addition, the police were still present in the morning: A dpa photographer reported of several patrol cars near the synagogue and of officers who were armed with submachine guns.
The operation brought back memories of the attack in Halle on October 9, 2019. At that time, also on Yom Kippur, a right-wing extremist assassin tried to break into the synagogue in Halle, heavily armed, and massacre the 51 people who had gathered there. When he failed, he shot and killed a passerby who happened to be passing by and later a young man in a kebab shop. The perpetrator has now been convicted of two murders and multiple attempted murders.
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