The suspect in Saturday's attack on a Pride celebration in Berlin, Germany, has been identified. Previous reporting stated that the suspect was "known to police" and was "attributed to the Islamist spectrum," but now the Berlin authorities have released the suspect's name.
A suspect with alleged ties to Germany's "Islamist scene" is on the run after allegedly plowing a van into a crowd near Berlin's Pride festival and attacking others with a machete in what officials believe was an Islamic terror attack that left one person dead and at least 29 others injured.
German authorities on Sunday launched an intensive manhunt for Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots whom officials say may be armed and dangerous.
"Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
This is a great example of belaboring the obvious.
RedState's own Jennifer Oliver O'Connell covered this story as it broke on Saturday:
Read More: Updated: Manhunt Begins for Berlin Parade Attack Suspect, Police Report As Known 'Islamist'
Here's the onion:
The minister said the suspect had previously come to the attention of authorities for multiple crimes, as well as his "radicalization and belonging to the Islamist scene."
Dobrindt said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother became a naturalized German citizen in 2002, three years before he was born. He said the suspect previously received a suspended prison sentence of one year and 10 months but did not disclose what he had been convicted of.
Germany, along with many of the other nations of Western Europe, has allowed mass migration from the Middle East for years now; this is part of the cost of that. The attack Ballout is accused of carrying out is a textbook example of Islamic intolerance and hate:
Police said a white van drove into a crowd in Berlin's Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. on Saturday before crashing into a tree. Authorities say the suspect then attacked several people with a machete before fleeing.
A woman was killed, while three people suffered life-threatening injuries and eight others were seriously hurt, according to Berlin's fire service. Dobrindt said at least 29 people were injured.
The attack happened a few hundred yards from Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day Pride celebration — one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ events — but not on the parade route or at the festival's closing event near the Brandenburg Gate. Investigators said the victims appeared to include both Pride attendees and other people who were in the park.
Among the civilized peoples of Europe and the United States, we may have our differences with the whole "Pride Month" thing and the Dionysian nature of some of the celebrations thereof. Still, we don't resolve those differences by driving vans through crowds or setting bombs.
Read More: Jewish School in Amsterdam Suffers Bomb Attack: Are We Awake Yet?
It would be roundly interesting to know what the suspect, Abdul Ballout, had been convicted of previously that left him with a 22-month prison sentence. There is a distinct tendency of judges in the increasingly low-T nations of Western Europe to treat these people with kid gloves. We don't know if that's the case here, but it wouldn't be in the least surprising.
This remains a developing story. Stay tuned.
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