At least the media have figured out the motive this time. When a man stabbed two "visibly Jewish" men in New York City last week while shouting "Allahu akbar," CBS News framed it as a mental health issue.
The Associated Press doesn't avoid the obvious in its update on the Islamist terror attack in Berlin at an LGBTQ event. Police shot and killed the perp, Abdul Ballout, following the van attack on the Pride March when he apparently attacked people with a machete until police finally shot him. It turns out that Ballout had attempted to join ISIS at one point, which will raise all sorts of questions as to why he was on the streets at all:
The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said.
Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.
Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack. ...
Ballout was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday at a garden in Spandau, a Berlin suburb, the city’s police department wrote on X. They said he apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot. He died at the scene.
So who exactly was Abdul Ballout? Germans should ask their government, because they knew all about Ballout and his radicalization. The Daily Wire rounds up European coverage of the aftermath:
The BBC reported Sunday Ballout is a German citizen of Lebanese background who was known to police for being part of Berlin’s “Islamist scene” and had previously “committed a number of crimes.”Ballout was born in Germany, and his mother became a naturalized German citizen in 2002, three years before his birth, police told the Associated Press.
The Telegraph reported Ballout is a convicted terrorist who tried to join the Islamic State terror group. German authorities previously arrested Ballout in Lebanon after accusing him of attempting to join the Islamic State in Syria and plotting a terrorist attack. Then, he was returned to Germany, where, according to Die Welt, he was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for plotting a “serious act of violence that threatened the state.”
When did Ballout get out of prison? Actually, he never went there. A German court suspended his prison sentence and paroled him immediately, the BBC reports:
Dobrindt says the suspect had previously been sentenced.
Outlining the sentence, he says the suspect was given one year and 10 months in prison in Berlin, but the sentence was commuted to parole.
The public prosecutor had tried to appeal that decision, the minister says.
That was just two months ago. The BBC later published a timeline showing that German authorities knew of Ballout's radicalization, but let him out anyway:
June 16 and 24, 2024: Ballout publishes prohibited Islamic State propaganda on Instagram. Later, the prosecutor's office says, he allegedly "developed the desire to join the armed struggle of ISIS".
20 May 2025: He travels to Lebanon via Turkey, with the intention of heading to Syria and joining the Islamic State group.
24 July 2025: He is arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months in prison for incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.
17 November 2025: Ballout returns to Germany after being released, and is arrested at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
12 May 2026: The Tiergarten District Court sentences him to one year and 10 months' imprisonment for "preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state". The decision is deferred for six months.
3 July 2026: His address in Berlin-Schöneberg is searched based on suspicion of a violation of Germany's Weapons Act, but only a toy gun is found.
The Germans had plenty of foreknowledge that Ballout represented a real danger to its citizens, and yet did nothing of consequence. Why? Germany and most of western Europe have been paralyzed by the accusations of "Islamophobia," and find the risk of being accused as such less palatable than having their citizens murdered in the streets. Their conceit of sophistication is nothing more than cowardice, and in fairness, the elites in the US are not all that far behind.
At this point, you'd think that the "Queers for Palestine" movement might take a lesson from this. Be sure to read David's next post for the answer to that question.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy HotAir's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member