That Knife Attack From Friday Morning

 I essayed a piece on the knife attack aboard a Aachen region train from Friday AM, so this is the end results.

The Iraqi guy (31 years old) had been on a review list in 2017.  There was some suspicion of him being an extremist.  At some point, the point could not be proven and he was lifted off the suspicion list.  

Based on investigation efforts on Friday and Saturday....the judge has put the guy into a mental-holding facility.  He is considered full-up mentally ill.

Yes, charges are still on the list (dangerous bodily harm and attempted murder).  

So far, they haven't found any grounds to say the guy is a religious fanatic or Islamic terrorist.

It would appear, if you glance at various journalist's commentary and social media....the guy is a plain up-and-up paranoid schizophrenic type.  I would imagine for the whole of the past five years.....he probably was in a state of being messed-up and no one really wanted to deal with it.

On the positive side....he didn't kill anyone.  He probably did freak out 200-plus passengers, and some will have fears for the rest of their life over this guy's behavior.  

Now?  More or less....the Germans are stuck with a guy who needs to be in a secure mental facility with 24-hour care/attention.  Yes, soaking up more tax revenue and requiring baby-sitting until he passes on.  This is one of the big negatives of the open-door policy and how things get negative public attention.

I suspect the court will still hear the murder/bodily harm charges (probably before the end of 2022), and quickly will some expert mental health experts step up to say he's just not sane.  At that point, the judge will sign the paperwork to send him off to a secure facility (permanently).

Something I worry about?  If you walk around Wiesbaden on any given summer day.....you probably will come across a couple of questionable folks (certainly not terrorists) who seem a bit bothered (maybe too many butterflies in the air....maybe too many people wearing yellow shirts....maybe you sat on their favorite bench....maybe you were eating chocolate ice cream), and then you get a dose of their mental issue.

I would suggest that 95-percent of them carry no weapon, and it's just a verbal confrontation.  The ones who feel continual threats to their safety?  Oh, they probably are carrying a knife and that's what you have to worry about.