A man, believed to be the perpetrator of a recent attack in Munich, drove a Mini Cooper into a demonstration, injuring 30 people, some of whom are severely hurt. The individual had been deemed to be in a position to be deported as far back as December 2020, according to a report by the German magazine Spiegel.
At the time, the Taliban had not yet regained power in Afghanistan, which could have prevented his deportation. Farhad N. arrived in Munich in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor and was initially cared for by a youth welfare organization. He filed an asylum application in February 2017, claiming that his father had been murdered and that the perpetrators had also been seeking to harm him.
However, the credibility of his account was deemed to be low and the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees rejected his application. Farhad N. then filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court in Munich, which took three years to rule against him. Although he was not deported, he was granted a residence permit, which was still valid, according to the police.
Farhad N. had also undergone security screenings in July and November 2021, during which he may have been questioned about suspected ties to individuals considered to be terror supporters or a potential threat to the free and democratic basic order. However, it is also possible that the true reason for the investigation was that he had failed to disclose that he had previously lived in Germany or another country.
The car used in the attack initially drove behind a police vehicle, which was escorting the Verdi trade union’s demonstration, before the individual accelerated. A spokesperson for the Munich State Prosecutor’s Office stated that there are indications of an extremist background.