Monday, January 6
New Year’s Eve: Influencer arrested after firing rocket into Neukölln apartment
The 23-year-old influencer, who was visiting Berlin as a tourist and is originally from the West Bank, was arrested at BER Airport on Saturday.
In a video posted to his Instagram, the young man can be seen hand-launching a firework rocket towards an apartment building on Weserstraße. The footage then shows the rocket flying through a window and exploding inside the apartment.
According to police and prosecutors, the burning rocket damaged furniture, but the apartment owner and his family, who were home at the time, were unharmed.
The influencer has been accused of serious arson, attempted bodily harm and damage to property. The first two offenses carry a prison sentence of at least one year, and the property damage would be punished with a fine.
The accused has since deleted the video and publicly apologised to those affected. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone intentionally”, he said in an interview with Zeit Online.
