Berlin has long been a city that pulls, invites, welcomes and celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community. This year, the CSD weekend, a chance for the city to demonstrate its pride, diversity and togetherness, became a weekend of mourning as a result of the attack that happened on Saturday night.
At around 10 pm, an attacker drove a white minivan into people who were walking to and from the CSD after-party through Tiergarten. Using the van as a weapon, the attacker rammed into a crowd, hitting people on Ahornsteig. One woman was killed and 29 others were injured, some of whom were treated in intensive care. The van crashed into a tree and the suspect left the vehicle and attacked people with “some type of blade”, according to officials, which could have been a machete.
The wanted suspect of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) attack, Abdul Ballout, was shot dead by police in Spandau on Sunday evening. According to investigators, the 21-year-old was located in an allotment garden colony on Ruhlebener Straße.
According to a police spokesperson, Ballout attacked a number of police officers with a knife, who then shot the 21-year-old. The police spokesperson said there were attempts made to resuscitate Ballout, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
It has come to light that Ballout was known to Berlin police. He was previously imprisoned in Lebanon for attempting to contact and join the terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) last year. Being a German citizen, he was subsequently extradited to Germany and arrested by police at BER airport and in May was given a suspended sentence by authorities in Berlin.
The role Ballout played in the attack is still unconfirmed. According to current information, he was the one who rented the vehicle used in the attack. However, it is still unclear whether he was the one behind the wheel – or if he was alone. One other man was arrested at the scene on Saturday evening after the attack, but police have not confirmed whether that man was involved either.
This year was the first time that CSD was to take place over two days, however, organisers cancelled several events on Sunday, including a breakfast pop-up and the post-CSD clean-up. Instead, thousands of people gathered at a community vigil at Pariser Platz.
The organisers of CSD stated, “Such violence is an attempt to divide our society and incite people against each other. We, as Berlin CSD, will not allow this.” They also added that “we don’t want this act to be exploited for political purposes” and that many attendees will experience “long-lasting effects” of this tragedy.
Alfonso Pantisano, the Berlin state government’s LGBTQ affairs commissioner, took to Instagram on Sunday: “To you, my dear community: I know that many of you are afraid right now. I won’t sugarcoat it – I am, too. But you are not alone in this fear, in your grief, and in your anger. Yesterday should have been a day of joy, visibility, and freedom. Instead, it has become a day we will never forget.”
