Germany

German police arrest four over threat to synagogue

cde.news desk 16 September 2021, 12:15 · 1 min read

epa07724430 A German policeman stands behind warning tape near a construction site during ongoing searchings in Cologne, 18 July 2019. Early morning on 18 July 2019 morning special German police searched properties in Cologne and Dueren. During a press conference, Cologne police informed, that six persons were taken into custody. One of them, Wael C. was in contact with the Berlin based mosque community Fussilet 33, to which Anis Amri, responsible for the truck attack on a Christmas market in the city center of Berlin, was associated as well. EPA-EFE/THOMAS BANNEYER

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Sept 16 (Reuters) – German police said on Thursday they had arrested four people, including a 16-year-old boy, after they received information about a possible threat to a synagogue.

Late on Wednesday, police stepped up their protection of a synagogue in Hagen, a town of some 200,000 on the fringes of the Ruhr industrial region in the west of the country.

The threat coincided with the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, when observant Jews hold overnight vigils in synagogues.

On Thursday, police in Hagen said they had arrested four people as a result of their investigation into the threat and had searched various buildings.

In 2019, a right-wing extremist launched an armed attack on a synagogue in the eastern town of Halle, shooting dead two passers-by. Then, police faced criticism for being slow to attend the scene, though they eventually arrested the attacker, who is now serving a life sentence for the murders.

Photo – EPA-EFE/THOMAS BANNEYER