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GERMANY-MIGRANTS-CRIME-XENOPHOBIA
German driver charged, remanded for anti-migrant attack
BERLIN, Jan 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A 50-year-old German man accused of
driving a car into groups of foreigners on New Year’s Eve has been formally
remanded in custody for attempted murder, police said Wednesday.
Eight people, including two children, were wounded in an assault that
police described as a “targeted attack motivated by the driver’s hostility to
foreigners”.
The German man is accused of accelerating his car at groups of revellers in
Bottrop and Essen, two cities in the west of Germany. He was arrested the
same night.
The car hit several people in Bottrop, injuring a four-year-old Afghan boy
and his mother, 29, as well as a 10-year-old Syrian girl, said police in a
statement.
A Syrian woman, 46, who was also severely hurt in the incident, was
declared out of danger after undergoing surgery.
The region’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, said the accused “had the
clear intention to kill foreigners”.
The man was not formerly known to police.
According to Spiegel Online, he has been treated for schizophrenia in the
past.
The unemployed man reportedly told police that “the high number of
foreigners is a problem for Germany that he wants to solve,” said Spiegel.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1734 hrs