I don't usually cite Bild (the German news daily) as a source, but this is one of those stories that drives home the distress over violence in Germany today.
Last week, an incident occurred in Berlin, at a Jewish synagogue. What the cops say is that some Syrian guy (mid-20s) did a fair climb over a security fence surrounding the synagogue, then came at the structure with a fair-sized knife.
No one says much over alcohol consumption or drug-use, but I might go and suggest that the guy was hyped-up on something.
His chatter during this 'rage'? Mostly down with anti-Israel comments and 'Allah' commentary.
But here's the thing, like most synagogues in Germany today.....they have a security presence. They noted the guy approaching from the climb experience, swinging the knife around, and blasted him with pepper-spray, then called the cops. No one hurt.
For most of us, if you'd seen a guy make a effort to climb a security wall, get all aggressive, and swing a knife in a threatening manner.....there would be two choices on prosecution handling. You'd either ask the judge to put the guy in for 30 days of mental evaluation to determine if he's safe and sane, or you'd press charges of assault. It's not really rocket-science on your job as a prosecutor.
In this case, the cops did their job in arriving, taking safe possession of the guy, and they held him for roughly 24 hours. Then this odd thing happened, the prosecutor there in Berlin released the guy. Charges? It doesn't appear that will occur, and there's certainly no mental eval on the guy.
Why? No one says much.
I generally point at the exceptional work of the German police, and public trust still remaining high. After that point, in terms of prosecutors and judges? It doesn't matter what laws are on the books or how public frustration spirals....they are marching along on a different agenda. Politically, the agenda will always go to hiring more police, or making more laws. In both cases, there are more than enough police, and sufficient laws on the books.....you simply lack prosecutors and judges being motivated to enforce them.
This fence-climber with the knife? One can only imagine that he was looped-up on some type of drug, and after 24 hours in the holding cell....he calmed down and seemed normal. His knife? Likely confiscated, but don't worry....you can buy another blade in Berlin within ten minutes.
Should the public worry about this guy's behavior? If he's got a good batch of drugs in his system or adrenaline being pumped.....yeah, he's a threat. If he goes out next time and stabs one old German lady on the street? No responsibility will come back to this prosecutor. That's the thing that distresses Germans....you expect certain things to occur, and people avoid that.
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