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Investigations after the attack on Breitscheidplatz in December 2016 should have started faster. Berlin Interior Senator Geisel came to this conclusion. The politician testified as a witness before the U-Committee of the Bundestag.
Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) admitted the shortcomings in the crime scene investigation as a witness in the Bundestag inquiry committee on the terrorist attack on Breitscheidplatz.
The search for the killer Anis Amri began relatively late after the attack because the cab of the truck was not thoroughly searched until the afternoon of the following day. There was an ID from the Tunisian who had used various false names with the German authorities. “In hindsight, it would have been better to search faster,” Geisel said.
Twelve killed in the attack
Amri, a rejected asylum seeker, shot a truck driver four years ago, on December 19, 2016, in Berlin. Then he ran the truck through the Memorial Church Christmas market. Eleven other people died and more than 70 were injured in the attack.
The Tunisian was able to flee to Italy, where he was shot during a police check. The police had already noted Amri as an Islamist threat. Why the attack was not yet averted and what could have gone wrong in the investigation, the investigation committee of the Bundestag wants to find out. Geisel was interviewed as a witness.
The SPD politician had become Interior Senator eleven days before the attack. His predecessor in office was Frank Henkel (CDU). Geisel told the investigation committee that as a result of the attack, the Berlin authorities are making greater efforts today than four years ago to deport so-called Islamist threats. In 2016, 27 cases were discussed in a corresponding working group and 98 cases in 2019.
Geisel sees progress
Since the terrorist attack on Breitscheidplatz, the capital’s police have become much more professional, Geisel said. At the time of the attack, the Department of State Security lacked resources and experience. The attack showed that the Berlin police forces “need to know more about Islamism,” stressed the interior senator. Late at night, the deputies wanted to question former Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (CDU).
