Murder Story

 I essayed a piece or two over the initial episode in the fall of last year (Oct 2020), but there's an update to this story.

Over in Dresden, as some Germans were trying to get some relaxation or 'chill-out' from the Covid shutdown business.....there's these two older German guys (a gay couple) from the far northwest of Germany....who ventured over and were going to have week 'off'.  

The two were having a walk in what you'd consider the tourist-quarter of Dresden, and walked....hand-in-hand.

Somewhere in the midst of this walk....they were (unbeknownst to them) going to encounter this young Syrian guy, with a determined attitude about radical Islam. He viewed the two guys....their situation...determined it violated his religion, and pulled out a knife.  One guy dead....the other wounded.  Then the Syrian guy runs off into the landscape.

I was interested in the story because I've been to Dresden in the past five years, and walked the same area of town....feeling perfectly safe.  For the most part....except around the train station....Dresden is a place where you generally feel safe around the clock.

For a couple of weeks, the Syrian guy thought he'd gotten away with this event....but the German cops had some reason to ID him for something, and the knife was still on his person.  DNA matched up, and the arrest was made.

So this week....the court case opened up.  Several news sources tell part of the story....the MDR folks do the best job.

Several factors have come to light.  First, the 21-year old Syrian is illiterate.  It's not clear if the Germans knew that when he entered the country (2015).  The family kinda hints that they thought that the 'kid' would be taken up by the German system and educated.   

Second, the Germans keep a listing of people who they say are radicalized.  This 'kid'?  He's been on the list since 2017.  

Third, at some point in 2018....he got into 'trouble'.  It's not clear on what this involved, but he had to spend some time in custody, and he went onto doing something pretty crazy....assaulting two police-guards, which earned him 3 years in jail.

You would think that between the listing of radicalized individuals, and the assault on the police, with jail-time....the Germans would have said 'enough' and put the guy on a deportation list.  But no....they actually reached the end of the jail period, and released him.  Five days later, in Dresden.....he conducted his attack.

So what happens now?  The German court system has to 'clean' up the mess.  There's the murder charge and a attempted murder charge.  Conviction is pretty likely unless the defense says the 'kid' is a nutcase.  

The judge could write a sentence into the situation....that a mental review take place each year of prison, and if after a sufficient time....it's determined that he's forever a threat....he'll never leave prison.  

So I come to two observations.

1.  After this vicious attack....neither Merkel or Steinmeier showed up at any memorial service....which the gay community said some fairly harsh words over their non-involvement.

2.  This is simply another 'no-one-responsible' episode that occurs, and you can't fire anyone or hold anyone accountable.  The minute that this character got on the radical Islam list....with a temp-visa....he should have had a legal situation develop where deportation occurred within short period of time.

While it's not practical....I've always had this idea in my head that the Germans should demand/require a week-long introduction to Germany.  You bring twenty folks into a room, and start to introduce them to various pieces and parts of German culture.

Here, you'd lay out that alcohol and drugs are part of society.....if your religion was blocking your acceptance of that....you'd need to resolve your issue.

You'd talk about roughly two-thirds of Germany being Christian in some form, and the other one-third being with the atheism crowd.

You'd talk about the cost of living, and that it's not cheap.

You'd talk about women being managers, bosses, or even Chancellor.

You'd talk about respect for laws and the police.

At the end of this....you'd go in front of some committee (certainly having women amongst them) and be asked a number of questions.  If you couldn't explain your approval....you'd be sent to the deportation door, and sent back to the home-country.

Coverage of this court case?  Don't go expecting much.  It probably won't be mentioned much on the ARD 8 PM news.  It's kind of a sad tragic story....but about every six months....you get some new version of it, and just accept the fact that you can't fire anyone for this type of incompetence.