A 19-year-old Syrian refugee, who attacked a Spanish tourist with a knife at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin on Friday, is currently in custody.
Wassim al M., who had been living in Germany legally, was a minor when he arrived in the country in 2013 and was granted a residence permit under the Geneva Refugee Convention. He is believed to have left his Leipzig refugee accommodation, where he resided and traveled to Berlin with the intention of committing a murder.
According to a statement by the Berlin Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect had expressed a plan to kill Jews in statements made to the police and this plan had been developing since a few weeks prior to the attack.
During his arrest, the 19-year-old was found to be carrying a prayer mat, a Quran, a note with verses from the Quran and the suspected weapon, which suggests a religious motivation.
The attack occurred on Friday at around 6 pm. The police had been searching for the perpetrator with a large force and Wassim al M. was arrested near the memorial at around 9:45 pm. After the crime, he had returned to the site and his bloody clothing and hands were noticed. On Saturday, he was presented to a judge and then taken to a detention center.
The refugee had previously been known for physical altercations in his Leipzig accommodation.