The 2016 Munich knife attack took place on 10 May 2016 when a 27-year-old mentally disturbed man stabbed four men, one of them fatally at Grafing station in the Upper Bavarian town of Grafing, some 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Munich, southern Germany. As the knifer reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" while stabbing victims at random, first reactions of the German and international media as well as the general public suspected an Islamist attack. On his arrest shortly after the attack, the perpetrator proved to be a mentally disturbed, unemployed carpenter with drug problems and no known ties to Islamist organizations. In August 2017, the Landgericht München II ruled the man to not be criminally liable of the crime and committed him to a closed psychiatric ward.[1]
The attack
The attack occurred during the morning hours of 10 May 2016 at Grafing station in the town of Grafing in the Munich Metropolitan Region.[2] A 56-year-old man was attacked by the perpetrator with a 10-centimetre-long (3.9 in) knife on board a Munich S-Bahn train; he later died in hospital. A further man was then attacked on the platform, then the knifer targeted two cyclists in front of the station, one of them a local newspaper deliveryman of 58 years who was seriously injured in the attack.[3] According to eyewitnesses and confirmed by investigators, the perpetrator shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic) and, in German, "Infidel, you must die now" during the attack.[4] All victims were randomly chosen. The train driver and a security official were reported to have chased the man away from the station. Police officers responded at the crime scene on 5:04 a.m. and arrested a suspect only minutes later in front of the station.[5]
Perpetrator
Initially, the attacker was suspected to be a Kurdish Islamist with ties to Ansar al-Islam,[6] although the attacker was later described as a mentally disturbed, 27-year-old unemployed carpenter[7] with no known ties to Islamist organizations. Local media outlets dubbed him as "Paul H."[8] The perpetrator was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after the attack, reported the Bremen daily Weser-Kurier.[9]
He was arrested in the hours following the attack.[10] Though it was first reported that he had a migrant background, later reports indicated that he was from the German state of Hesse,[5][11] and "does not have a migrant background".[12]
Aftermath
Investigation
On 10 May 2016 a spokesperson at the Bavarian state criminal investigation office stated that she could not confirm that the attack was related to terrorism;[6] The same day the police said that the attack was done with "political motive," based on "made statements",[13] and a spokesperson of the prosecutor's office, said that an "Islamistic background" was likely.[5]
Later that day, it was reported that the perpetrator had drug and mental problems and was treated two days earlier. The assumption that the attacker was an Islamist was ruled out, but a political motive was still being considered, though the attacker appeared to be confused during the interrogation, was not cooperating during first interrogation, but later admitted to committing the attack.[5] No links to terrorist networks were known.[11] The police established a special commission, consisting of 80 officers. The perpetrator's cell phone and tablet computer were found and evaluated; in addition, CCTV recordings from the train and station were investigated.[5]
Security measures
Service at the train station was temporarily closed to allow authorities to conduct their investigation.[14]
Discussions made in the wake of the attack raised the possibility that bag checks at German train stations might have found the knife used in the attack and prevented it from happening, but German public opinion believes that such searches are an invasion of privacy.[17]
Mental illness discussion
The attack was cited as one of a number of incidents in which mentally disturbed individuals launched violent attacks under the justification of Islamist ideas or slogans.[18][19] Other examples include Man Haron Monis, the gunman in the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis; and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the perpetrator of the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa. According to psychologists and psychiatrists who study radicalization, jihad propaganda and calls to kill infidels can push mentally disturbed individuals to act, even in the absence of direct or personal contact with radical Islamists.[18]
Other reactions
German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière condemned the attack as "cowardly and outrageous" on the day of the assault.[5]
A conspiracy theory, which began in Italy before spreading to Germany and then to the English-speaking world, purported that Paul H. was actually named Rafik Youssef and that his name had been changed as part of a cover-up. Rafik Yousef was an Islamist in Berlin who was shot dead by police in September 2015.[20]
Journalist Nabila Ramdani expressed outrage at what she termed the "purposeful" and "grossly manipulative" media use of the phrase Allahu Akbar, which, she claims, has become, a "trigger for publicity: the perfect tool for those seeking to spread as much discord as possible".[25]
Verdict
On 17 August 2017, the Landgericht München II deemed the accused not criminally liable for his actions in Grafing. His mental illness, testified to by a psychiatrist in court, was acknowledged not only by the judge, but also by the prosecution as well as the accessory prosecution of several victims. He was then sentenced to stay in a closed psychiatric ward for an undetermined time.[1]
^Acker, Michael (17 May 2016). "Ersthelfer nach Grafinger Blutbad: Ich sah dem Täter in die Augen". Münchner Merkur (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2016. "Ein Allah-Fan hat mir in den Rücken gestochen", seien die ersten Worte des schwerverletzten Zeitungsausträgers gewesen
^Hermann, Kristin (17 May 2016). "Messerstecher von Grafing war vor der Tat mehrere Tage in Bremen". Weser-Kurier (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2016. Nach der tödlichen Attacke wurde H. in ein psychiatrisches Krankenhaus eingewiesen - After the deadly attack H. was admitted to a psychiatric hospital -
^Staudenmaier, Rebecca (31 May 2016). "Reports: Hanover teen may have followed 'IS' orders when stabbing cop". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 July 2016. Since the German-Moroccan teen Safia S. assaulted a policeman with a knife in February, federal prosecutors and investigators in Germany have been trying to determine if the stabbing was an act of terrorism. New evidence could prove that the attack was not only inspired by the militant "Islamic State" (IS) group, but that Safia S. may have received direct orders to carry it out.
^Riccardi, Katia (18 July 2016). "Germania, 17enne afgano colpisce con ascia passeggeri su treno : tre feriti gravi". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 18 July 2016. A few months ago, May 10, at Grafing station on the S4 line, the train that connects to Munich, at 5 am, a man, Paul H., 27, had attacked four passengers with blows of knife, killing one and wounding three others. He was suffering from mental disorders, drug addiction, and had executed his death plan shouting "Allah akbar."
^"Germany axe attack: Assault on train in Wuerzburg". BBC. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016. In May, a man reportedly shouting "Allahu akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic), killed one person and wounded three others in a knife attack at a railway station near the German city of Munich.
