Status: 16.09.2021 12:28 p.m.
After the police operation at the synagogue in Hagen there were four arrests. NRW Interior Minister Reul spoke of a serious extremist threat. The Attorney General is also involved in the investigation.
A total of four arrests were made in connection with a large-scale police operation at a synagogue in Hagen. The Dortmund police announced. According to their own statements, the officials searched several objects in Hagen. In security circles it was said that an Islamist background was being investigated in connection with the danger situation at the synagogue.
Michael Heussen, WDR, on the status of the investigation after the failed attack
daily news 2 p.m., 16.9.2021
Prior to this, numerous heavily armed police officers had surrounded and secured the synagogue on Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holiday, following “indications of a possible danger in connection with a Jewish establishment”. A hundred were on duty on Wednesday evening, the area around the synagogue was largely cordoned off. According to police, the measures were completed during the night.
No indications of further hazards
The police are still in constant contact with the affected Jewish community. In addition, there is close coordination with the other Jewish communities in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are currently no indications that other facilities are at risk.
The “Spiegel” previously reported that a 16-year-old is said to have prepared an explosives attack. The security authorities had received a tip from a foreign secret service. The partner service had warned of a suspected Islamist in Germany who had behaved suspiciously on the Internet. The investigation led to the 16-year-old who lives in Hagen in an apartment with his father.
According to information from the news magazine, the police searched the apartment in the morning. Accordingly, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Düsseldorf is investigating the young person on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state.
Reul confirms the risk of an attack on the synagogue
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul confirmed that a youth was arrested. According to the CDU politician, there was a serious extremist threat in Hagen. “There was a risk of an attack on the synagogue in Hagen,” said Reul at the swearing-in ceremony for young police officers in Cologne. “Your colleagues probably prevented that.”
Lambrecht: threat to synagogue “unbearable”
Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke of a “very serious threat situation” in connection with the investigation. The incident awakens horrific memories of the Halle attack two years ago, said the SPD politician, according to a statement from her ministry.
“It is unbearable that Jews are once again exposed to such a terrible threat and were unable to celebrate the beginning of their highest festival, Yom Kippur, peacefully together.” The fight against anti-Semitism in its various forms is of the utmost importance. It is the duty of the state to do everything to protect Jews.
On October 9, 2019, also on Yom Kippur, an assassin tried to break into the synagogue in Halle, heavily armed, and massacre the 51 people who had gathered there. When the door held out, he shot two people nearby and injured two others while trying to escape.
Justice Minister Lambrecht zu Hagen: Serious threat, unbearable
Vera Wolfskämpf, ARD Berlin, September 16, 2021 1:40 p.m.