German van attack: ‘Suspect had mental health problems’
April 9, 2018 by admin
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AFP/Getty
Police stand outside the building where the driver reportedly lived
The man suspected of carrying out a van attack in Muenster was a lone German who suffered mental health problems, the state interior minister has said.
Authorities have searched four homes associated with the suspect, and said they have found “no clues” pointing to an extremist or political motive.
Two people were killed when a van was driven into a restaurant terrace area of the west German city on Saturday.
The 48-year-old driver shot and killed himself after hitting diners.
He has been identified in German media as Jens R – prosecutors say he was known to police.
In 2015 and 2016, he had faced allegations of making threats, damaging property, a hit-and-run traffic accident and fraud, all of which were dropped.
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AFP/Getty
Well wishers have placed flowers, candles and a sign asking ‘why?’ next to the scene of the attack
“The person in focus had [psychological] abnormalities” that needed careful investigation, regional interior minister Herbert Reul said after placing flowers at the scene of the attack.
He said there was no evidence linking the suspect to Islamist militancy, and that he was not a refugee.
- How Germany van incident unfolded online
“We are assuming the motives and origins [of the crime] lie within the perpetrator himself,” Hajo Kuhlisch, chief of local police told reporters.
The victims were a 51-year-old woman from near Lueneburg, in the north of the country, and a 65-year-old man from Borken, near Muenster. Some 20 others were injured.
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Reuters
Muenster’s mayor Markus Lewe (l), and federal interior minister Horst Seehofer (2nd r) paid tribute at the scene of the crime
What else do we know about the perpetrator?
“We now know it was in all likelihood a lone perpetrator, a German,” Mr Reul said.
Prosecutors said there had been three criminal proceedings against him in Muenster, and one in the city of Ansbach dating back to 2015 and 2016.
“We have no indications of a politically motivated background [for the crime]“, senior prosecutor Elke Adomeit said.
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AFP/Getty
The van used in the attack on Saturday was removed in the night
Although officials have provided few details, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the man lived just 2km (1.2 miles) from the restaurant.
How did the incident unfold?
A vehicle, reportedly a grey VW van, was driven into a tourist square in the 300,000-population city at 15:27 local time (13:27 GMT) on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses said it was driven at speed and photographs of the aftermath showed tables and chairs strewn across a restaurant terrace area.
A bang was heard and people screamed, one cafe employee told local media.
Daniel Kollenberg, who witnessed the aftermath, told the BBC: “I think it is a deliberate attack because it’s not allowed for cars to go in this area.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement that she was “deeply shaken” by the incident.
“Everything possible is now being done to clarify the facts and to support the victims and their relatives,” she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in French and German, saying his country was suffering with Germany.
Skip Twitter post by @EmmanuelMacron
Meine Gedanken sind bei den Opfern des Angriffs von Münster. Frankreich nimmt Anteil am Leid Deutschlands.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 7, 2018
End of Twitter post by @EmmanuelMacron
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Trump attacks ‘garbage’ Washington Post; calls Kelly story ‘hit job’
April 9, 2018 by admin
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Why is Trump moving the conversation to immigration?
Trump announces plan to send National Guard troops to the border; Washington Examiner White House correspondent Sarah Westwood provides insight.
President Trump on Sunday lashed out again at The Washington Post, calling a recent story by the newspaper suggesting White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has lost credibility and has been reduced to “intern” status a “hit job.”
“The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage — more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!” Trump tweeted.
Trump has in recent weeks launched a full-scale attack on the newspaper, which has been critical of his presidential campaign and administration, and the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos.
The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage – more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018
The president has suggested that Bezos made his fortune at Amazon in part with a sweetheart deal with the U.S. Postal Service that allows the mega online retailer to ship merchandise at bargain rates and that Amazon has avoided paying state sales taxes.
The Post story Saturday says in part: “The recurring and escalating clashes between the president and his chief of staff trace the downward arc of Kelly’s eight months in the White House. Both his credibility and his influence have been severely diminished, administration officials said, a clear decline for the retired four-star Marine Corps general who arrived with a reputation for integrity and a mandate to bring order to a chaotic West Wing.”
The story also includes former Clinton administration Chief of Staff Leon Panetta speculating about Kelly’s status by saying: “When you lose that power … you become a virtual White House intern, being told where to go and what to do.”
While Panetta spoke, the story, which includes several anecdotes of alleged, profanity-laced Kelly tirades, does not include any information from named sources inside the White House, as Trump pointed out in his tweet Sunday.
“This portrait of Kelly’s trajectory is based on interviews with 16 administration officials, outside advisers and presidential confidants, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to assess the chief of staff,” the lengthy, 2,200-plus word story states.
The story also states: “Days after the publication of Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire and Fury’ — a devastating portrayal of the West Wing, informed by Wolff’s hours of unsupervised time there — Kelly berated senior staff, saying the book should have never happened. ‘This place was a [expletive] before I got here.’ ”
Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, became chief of staff in July 2017, replacing Reince Priebus in an purported attempt to stop damaging Oval Office leaks and perhaps limit Trump’s free-wheeling messaging, which includes essentially daily and multiple Twitter posts.
However, Kelly has created some of his own problems, including the public outcry over his handling of the domestic abuse allegations against then-staff secretary Rob Porter, who was fired.