Following the fatal incident at the Berlin Christopher Street Day (CSD), Friedrich Merz of the CDU pledged a rapid investigation. On Sunday morning, the politician stated on X (formerly Twitter): “We are open and freedom-loving-and we will maintain and defend that.” He vowed that the crime would be investigated and prosecuted “with all due severity.”
Merz referenced the attack again, describing it as an “abominable crime” in Berlin. “Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world celebrated peacefully at the Christopher Street Day. They wanted us to treat each other well and with tolerance. This is an attack on our society,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, police continue their search for 21-year-old Abdul B., who allegedly drove a small commercial van through the Tiergarten in Berlin around 10 p.m. on Saturday while CSD participants were celebrating. The driver eventually crashed into a tree and fled. Authorities now suggest that “one or more persons” exited the vehicle. Furthermore, several people are reported to have been injured by “stabbing tools.”
The event was called off after the attack, although for just over an hour, little was publicly known about what had happened, apparently to prevent panic. During the search, the police temporarily deployed a helicopter over the Tiergarten, reportedly utilizing a thermal imaging camera. Preliminary reports indicated that one person was killed and 16 others were injured during the Saturday evening attack.
Christopher Street Day is a celebration of lesbian, gay, and other “queer” people, held annually on various dates for decades. The largest marches for CSD take place each year in Berlin and Cologne.
