After a suspected right-wing extremist attack on a synagogue in Upper Franconia, the suspect is now in custody. This was announced by the police and the public prosecutor’s office on Thursday. The district court in Bamberg had rejected an arrest warrant against the 21-year-old. However, the public prosecutor’s office was successful with their complaint, and the district court in Bamberg issued an arrest warrant. The man was taken into custody on Thursday on suspicion of attempted serious arson and damage to property.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is suspected of having damaged a window pane of the former Ermreuth synagogue near Neunkirchen am Brand (Forchheim district) on New Year’s Eve. Then he is said to have tried to ignite a firecracker and throw it through the smashed window to set the former Jewish house of worship on fire. He was arrested on January 5th. Surveillance video and witness statements led investigators to the suspect’s trail.
According to current knowledge and because of the execution of the crime, an anti-Semitic crime with a right-wing extremist background is assumed, it said. Since January 10, the Munich public prosecutor’s office has been conducting the investigation, because that is where the central anti-Semitism commissioner of the Bavarian judiciary is based.