Anger, shock and sadness – after the attack on the pride of Berlin

“He was sentenced… under the Youth Offenses Act,” he told RBB TV. “And unfortunately, the court gave a suspended sentence. I don’t want to pass judgment on that – that’s the freedom of the justice system – but I’m at a loss for words.”

The opposition far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party described the attack as a total failure of security policy.

“If a known Islamist threat to the police was able to carry out such an act, there must be a thorough investigation into why he was able to move freely in the first place,” said Martin Hess, the AfD’s home affairs spokesman.

Der Spiegel reported that Ballot told a Berlin court this spring that he had renounced extremist ideology and violence.

Thomas Mook, an extremism expert at the anti-attack network VPN, told Arde Television that we have found the suspect.

Ballout said it gave social workers “a very organized, very careful, very controlled and very friendly feeling.”

“And it’s these criteria that we realize we can’t really know the person,” he continued.

Some have called for stricter anti-terrorism laws in Germany.

Peter Neumann of King’s College London told ZF that Germany’s criminal law is “too lenient” on terrorism and the punishment is too short by European standards.

They called for a rethink of Germany’s juvenile justice system, which prioritizes education over public protection.

Sebastian Fiedler, home affairs spokesman for the center-left Social Democrat Party (SPD), told Deutschlandfunk radio that the criminal law is not the problem, but its implementation.

“We have to take a closer look at why (voice) is still released. Another key question is: ‘What happened after he was released from prison? Who is he still in contact with?’ Obviously there was a loophole in the system even though it was under surveillance.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was too early to say what political consequences the attack would have, but vowed to act: “We must respond cautiously but also decisively.”

If individuals classified as a threat cannot be arrested, “their right to move should be restricted as much as possible,” he said.

“I can’t figure out how to track my cell phone from anywhere in the world… but it is impossible or technically impossible for the security forces in Germany to know the whereabouts of individuals who are classified as a security threat.”

He said they had asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to review the law regarding surveillance powers.