John Cody
German youth in migrant-heavy neighborhoods once again turned Berlin and other German cities into war zones on New Year’s Day, but this year, news reports indicate that attacks were especially brutal and targeted rescue services, including ambulance workers.
In Berlin, police and firefighters responded to 3,943 incidents, with 15 firefighters and 18 police officers injured. According to Bild, there were “particularly bad attacks in the hotspot neighborhoods of Kreuzberg and Neukölln with a high proportion of migrants.”
“There were dozens of attacks,” says Interior Senator Iris Spranger, of the Social Democrats (SPD).
In Kreuzberg, for example, after young men set fire to barricades, firefighters who arrived to extinguish the fire were attacked by 200 hooded men. In Neukölln, which is one of the most multicultural neighborhoods in Germany, 50 perpetrators fired rockets at emergency force services.
In one disturbing scene, a group of men were filmed attacking an ambulance, hurling objects inside the vehicle’s open rear doors.
Berlin-Neukölln New Year’s Eve. If you import Kalkutta you don’t help Kalkutta, you will become Kalkutta. @NancyFaeser you are responsible pic.twitter.com/roLNVwdyaO
— Hans Gutermann (@HausPirna) January 2, 2023
Other videos show youths hurling rockets at ambulances as they attempt to drive down Berlin streets.
(1/4) Wenn man Bilder aus Städten wie Berlin oder auch Frankfurt sieht, weiß man: Es ist immer eine bestimmte Klientel, die hier zu Silvester völlig ausrastet. Es geht also nicht pauschal um Böller. Es geht darum, wer wie damit umgeht. pic.twitter.com/mdnT7qWRpw
— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) January 1, 2023
Zu #Silvester und dem #Jahreswechsel geht #Berlin im #Feuerwerk #Chaos unter.#Fachkräfte aus der #Partyszene und #Chaoten aus der #Sonnenallee, #Kreuzberg und #Neukoelln überfallen #Polizei und #Feuerwehr.
Berlin: das institutionialisierte #Staatsversagen, dank #Giffey. pic.twitter.com/4pHZcVYNKf
— Dr. David Lütke (@DrLuetke) January 2, 2023
Berlin Neukölln war dieses Jahr Silvester richtig schlimm pic.twitter.com/Obzc3tRyur
— فاطمة (@fatumaa_ab) January 1, 2023
Many of the incidents were caught on film, with the clips featuring burning vehicles, fires in tall apartment blocks, and one police officer being struck by a rocket directly on his helmet, which then burst into flames. One officer and one firefighter suffered from severe injuries and remain hospitalized.
“Our vehicles were fired at with birdshot ammunition,” says Thomas Kirstein of the Berlin Fire Department. Police report that an “illegal bullet bomb” was thrown at a fully occupied police car. In another video, a man shoots out a police car window.
freue mich auf das #boellerverbot in berlin. dann gehören solche bilder nächstes silvester der vergangenheit an.
Ihr team freiheit
✊
— Ulf Poschardt (@ulfposh) January 2, 2023
In the ensuing chaos, 103 people (98 men and five women) were arrested. The Berlin police wrote on Twitter, “The violence that our colleagues had to experience on New Year’s Eve is unbearable. It is a task for society as a whole to clearly counteract this. We thank you all for your commitment and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
Die Gewalt, die unsere Kolleginnen & Kollegen in der Silvesternacht erleben mussten, ist unerträglich. Es ist eine gesamtgesellschaftliche Aufgabe dem deutlich entgegen zu wirken. Wir danken Ihnen allen für Ihren Einsatz & wünschen den Verletzten schnellste Genesung.
^VPr ^PPr’in— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) January 1, 2023
The German police union (DPolG) is demanding answers from Germany’s political class, including with regard to the origin of the perpetrators. Recently, Berlin’s left-wing government decided that the citizenship status and foreign nationality of criminal suspects would no longer be recorded, in what many critics say is an effort to hide the foreign origins of suspects from the public.
DPolG chief Rainer Wendt told FOCUS online:
“Among many task forces, the prevailing impression is that groups of young men with a migrant background are vastly overrepresented in these outbursts.”
Many of the videos from the night appear to bear this claim out, including one video which showed migrant youths mocking a firefighter as he attempted to give an interview to news outlets and then shooting a firearm into the air.
Berlin halt. pic.twitter.com/04NiRZGICB
— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) January 1, 2023
The next morning, burned-out buses and automobiles could be seen across Berlin.
Hat #Berlin noch irgendwas von einer normalen deutschen Großstadt?
Wahldebakel, Antifa Krawalle und jetzt noch so ein Silvester. Vielleicht wählt ihr euch mal ne vernünftige Regierung ins Amt wie wir anderen. pic.twitter.com/Xneaf4OIgy— Henrijs_DE (@HenrijsDE) January 1, 2023
Georg Pazdersk, former AfD parliamentary group leader in the Berlin House of Representatives, wrote:
“When are we finally going to admit that we have a huge problem with young male migrants from archaic societies who don’t want to integrate? Silencing the problem means continuing to promote it.”
Wann gestehen wir uns endlich ein, dass wir ein riesiges Problem mit jungen männlichen Migranten aus archaischen Gesellschaften haben, die sich nicht integrieren wollen. Das Problem totzuschweigen heißt es weiter zu fördern.https://t.co/Z6NODxl9Cmpic.twitter.com/7BqWOkxXKx
— Georg Pazderski (@Georg_Pazderski) January 1, 2023
Other cities, such as Duisburg, were hit with violence as well, including attacks on rescue services.
#duisburg #silvester pic.twitter.com/kDiY1JmDSQ
— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) January 1, 2023
“One can only shake one’s head. The political leadership in Berlin takes no responsibility for this disaster. It has sympathy for people who break rules,” Neukölln’s former mayor, Social-Demcrat (SPD) Heinz Buschkowsky, told Bild.
In der Silvesternacht regieren in unseren Innenstädten #DIEGESETZLOSEN. Junge Männer, die machen, was sie wollen, vor niemandem Respekt haben, sich über Gesetz & Ordnung hinwegsetzen – unsere Doku morgen 18 Uhr bei #AchtungReichelt – Hier Kanal abonnieren: https://t.co/bhjqXCo8wP pic.twitter.com/BVdkbinASW
— Julius Böhm (@julius__boehm) January 1, 2023
“The lunatics are becoming are appearing more and more. Every festive event is a welcome occasion to attack the authorities…That’s the enemy, and they must be fought.”
“Even experienced emergency personnel are shocked by the extent of the brutality. This must finally come to an end. The state must no longer stand by while chaotic people repeatedly attack police officers and firefighters. These are not trivial offenses, they are crimes,” CDU Berlin chapter leader Kai Wegner told Bild.
Previous years also featured extreme violence, especially in Neukölln.
In a statement released by the AfD, the party wrote:
“Anarchy reigned in Berlin on New Year’s Eve. It was a first foretaste of future everyday life in German cities because although the authorities and the press are adamantly silent when it comes to the specific naming of the perpetrators, the countless videos of that night speak volumes: They are young, violent men with a southern appearance who hardly speak German. And not only can they immigrate unhindered, they also get paid for a nice life by the traffic-light government with tax money.
“The conclusion that is now being drawn from the riots is as typical as it is naïve: a ban on firecrackers and cameras on the rescue vehicles should fix it. As if the corresponding clientele would be impressed by these measures. There is only one effective remedy against such scenes: finally protect the borders and deport criminal migrants immediately,.”
Weitere Eindrücke der #Partyszene, die ich euch nicht vorenthalten möchte! Da wäre ich doch gern dabei gewesen – in dieser “sicheren und lebenswerten” #Silvester2022-Nacht!
Meine Kinder hätten das #Feuerwerk wahrlich genossen@polizeiberlin: Material für euch! Tut was damit pic.twitter.com/jhned7Yjiu— XzumTreme (@XzumTreme) January 2, 2023
In 2016, approximately 2,500 German women were raped and sexually assaulted by North African and Middle Eastern men in Cologne and other cities in an event that fueled the rise of the Alternative for Germany party and anti-immigration sentiment in Germany.
This article was first published in Remix News and cross published by Richardson Post.