Following the attack on the Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister, Herbert Reul (CDU), announced that the security concepts for forthcoming queer demonstrations in his state will be reviewed. Reul told the Funke-Mediengruppe newspapers that while the danger of Islamist attacks is abstractly high, it has now become very concrete in Berlin. Consequently, the police have been sensitized, and the security plans will undergo a thorough re-evaluation, particularly in preparation for the many CSD events scheduled throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.
However, Reul also acknowledged the limits of security, noting, “We will never be able to guarantee one hundred percent safety. There will always be people who fall through the cracks because their radicalization happens hidden and quickly.” Stressing that risk is “part of every event,” he concluded by urging that Germans should not allow terrorists to take away their freedom and celebrations.
