‘Festival of Diversity’ Germany Knife Attack 3 Dead Others Wounded

[Social Media]

 

The "Festival of Diversity" in Solingen, Germany, which was meant to be a celebration of the city’s rich culture and heritage, became the site of a brutal knife attack that claimed the lives of three individuals and left at least four others severely wounded. The attack occurred late Friday on the first day of the festival, sending shockwaves through the western German city and beyond.

 

The assailant, who remains unidentified, launched the attack in the midst of the festival’s celebrations, stabbing people indiscriminately. The police, caught off guard by the ferocity and suddenness of the violence, immediately launched a manhunt that extended beyond Solingen into the early hours of Saturday. Roadblocks were set up around the city and surrounding areas as the authorities scrambled to track down the attacker. However, by Saturday morning, the search had yet to yield any significant leads, and the police had not released a detailed description of the suspect. In a bid to gather more information, the police urged the public to submit any photos or videos related to the Friday night attack via an online portal.

 

A photographer on the scene reported a large police presence, including special forces and a helicopter, as law enforcement agencies mobilized to respond to the crisis. The local newspaper, Bild, provided further harrowing details, stating that the attacker had "stabbed people indiscriminately with a knife," leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

 

The festival, which was organized as part of a series of events celebrating Solingen’s 650th anniversary, was intended to be a joyous occasion. Instead, it was marred by this senseless act of violence, plunging the city into a state of mourning. The mayor of Solingen, Tim-Oliver Kurzbach, expressed the collective grief of the city in a statement posted online. "We all wanted to celebrate our town's anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured," he said. The mayor described the incident as a moment of "shock, horror, and great grief," capturing the sorrow that had enveloped the city.

 

Kurzbach also took the opportunity to thank the emergency services for their swift response to the attack and extended his sympathy to those who had witnessed the traumatic event. "It tears my heart apart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives," he added, his words reflecting the deep pain and anguish felt by the community.

 

The attack drew widespread condemnation and sympathy from across the region. Hendrik Wuest, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state in which Solingen is located, expressed his profound shock and sorrow in a post on the social media platform X. "An act of the most brutal and senseless violence has struck at the heart of our state," Wuest wrote. He assured the people of Solingen that the entire state stood with them in their time of need, particularly with the victims and their families who had been most directly affected by the tragedy.

 

Solingen, a city of approximately 150,000 residents, is situated almost equidistant from the larger cities of Duesseldorf and Cologne. On that fateful Friday evening, the city had been buzzing with excitement as people gathered for the first day of the three-day "Festival of Diversity." According to the event's website, the festival was set to feature a wide array of entertainment, including music, street theatre, variety shows, and comedians. The city center and several other areas were transformed into lively venues for the festivities, and up to 75,000 visitors were expected to attend over the course of the event.

 

But the joyful atmosphere was abruptly shattered by the attack. As the news spread, a wave of fear and uncertainty swept through the city. The Solinger Tageblatt newspaper reported that one of the festival’s co-organizers took to the stage to announce the cancellation of the event. The crowd, which had been in high spirits just moments before, was now asked to leave the city center. Thousands of attendees began to disperse, and the atmosphere turned "ghostly," as described by a journalist on the scene.

 

"People left the scene in shock, but calmly," Philipp Mueller, one of the festival's organizers, told the newspaper. The sudden shift from celebration to sorrow was palpable, as people struggled to process the horror that had just unfolded.

Lars Breitzke, a witness who spoke to the Tageblatt, recounted the chilling moments leading up to the attack. He was standing just a few meters from the incident, not far from the stage, when he noticed something was amiss. "I understood from the expression on the singer's face that something was wrong," Breitzke recalled. Initially, he thought the person who collapsed near him might have been drunk, but when he turned around, he was confronted with a far grimmer reality. "I saw other people lying on the ground and several pools of blood," he said, his voice tinged with disbelief.

 

As the festival grounds emptied, the organizers faced the heartbreaking task of informing the artists and vendors that the remainder of the event had been canceled. "We've just informed all the artists and stand operators," Mueller confirmed to the Tageblatt. What was meant to be a grand celebration had been cut short by an act of unimaginable violence.

 

The knife attack in Solingen is the latest in a troubling series of similar incidents that have plagued Germany in recent months. The rise in knife-related crimes has become a growing concern for authorities, prompting Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to pledge a crackdown on knife violence. Just a few months prior, in late May, a police officer was killed and five others were wounded in a knife attack at a far-right rally in the city of Mannheim.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr_XACxQwuI

 

Credit: France24  2024-08-24

 

 

 

Get the ASEAN NOW daily NEWSLETTER - Click HERE to subscribe

[CHdiver]

Germans: refugees welcome. Refugees: Germans not welcome.

 

German voters wanted it this way, so I do not see any problem.....

[herfiehandbag]

Well, you welcomed them.

 

You got diversity.

 

You have been culturally enriched.

[Emdog]

If I had to bet on who did this, I'd bet it was some disaffected right wing neo Nazi white guy. Let's see if I'd collect on that virtual bet.

[CHdiver]

2 hours ago, Emdog said:

If I had to bet on who did this, I'd bet it was some disaffected right wing neo Nazi white guy. Let's see if I'd collect on that virtual bet.

25 year old Syrian Refugee, IS claimes the assasination. Keep dreaming in your left cloud. 

[retarius]

3 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Well, you welcomed them.

 

You got diversity.

 

You have been culturally enriched.

But importantly, you were not allowed to vote on 'cultural enrichment'.

[nauseus]

4 hours ago, Emdog said:

If I had to bet on who did this, I'd bet it was some disaffected right wing neo Nazi white guy. Let's see if I'd collect on that virtual bet.

 

you lost.

[JonnyF]

So let me get this right.

 

At a festival of diversity a cultural enricher turns up and starts stabbing the people celebrating diversity? 

 

I think there might be a lesson in there somewhere...

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

12 hours ago, JonnyF said:

I think there might be a lesson in there somewhere...

This horror goes on since years and the political elite/leaders will repeat their slogans and  empty "we will take care" babble. Nothing changes.

They want to fight the problem with forbidding knives instead of naming the real problem.

Loud crying and teeth gnashing over the potential outcome of a state local election on Sep 1.

Edited August 26 by KhunBENQ

[BritManToo]

We all know what cultural diversity means, if you don't want to be stabbed, don't attend!

[Cameroni]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:01 AM, CHdiver said:

German voters wanted it this way, so I do not see any problem.....

 

They didn't. The overwhelming majority of Germans see the problems with unlimited mass immigration. However, Merkel just decided one day, hey we should let them in, we can do it. Do you think she ran on this platform prior to election? No.

 

 

[CHdiver]

7 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

They didn't. The overwhelming majority of Germans see the problems with unlimited mass immigration. However, Merkel just decided one day, hey we should let them in, we can do it. Do you think she ran on this platform prior to election? No.

 

 

Yes, they did. Because Merkel is not in power anymore. Germans voted again, this time left. Thats the reason they have a left/green government (with a little addition of FDP). Merkel was, in the end, a disgrace for Germany. No wonder she completely disapeared from public. 

 

As a voter in Germany, the only way (at the moment) to stop this mess is to vote AFD or maybe BSW. If you vote CDU/CSU you will get a mixed Government with green or left again. Green/left does nothing but push illegal immigration (by doing nothing) and stopping every atempt of getting it under control.

 

CDU/CSU should put a foot down and go into the next election by clearly stating how they will stop illegal immigration and by the promise not to build a coalition with  SPD or the green party. 

 

 

 

  

[Cameroni]

4 minutes ago, CHdiver said:

Yes, they did. Because Merkel is not in power anymore. Germans voted again, this time left. Thats the reason they have a left/green government (with a little addition of FDP). Merkel was, in the end, a disgrace for Germany. No wonder she completely disapeared from public. 

 

As a voter in Germany, the only way (at the moment) to stop this mess is to vote AFD or maybe BSW. If you vote CDU/CSU you will get a mixed Government with green or left again. Green/left does nothing but push illegal immigration (by doing nothing) and stopping every atempt of getting it under control.

 

CDU/CSU should put a foot down and go into the next election by clearly stating how they will stop illegal immigration and by the promise not to build a coalition with  SPD or the green party. 

 

 

 

  

 

It doesn't matter if you vote for CDU or SPD in Germany, both parties have shown that they will support mass immigration, but they do not run on those platforms. 

 

There is a party which seeks to curtail immigration, the AFD, but the entire political establishment, the state apparatus, including the secret service, the federal government administration and above all the German media, all work together to ensure the AFD cannot function and is not a viable party.

 

German voters do not have a real choice. The vast majority of German voters are against mass immigration, bar far left extremists.