A man was detained in Germany after announcing on the internet that he was going to carry out an attack on Muslims inspired by that of Christchurch (New Zealand), the Central Counterterrorism Office announced on Monday June 8.
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The 21-year-old suspect was taken into custody on Saturday after being arrested in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony. Weapons, which "may have been purchased to carry out his plans of attack," were discovered at his home, the agency said in a statement.
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This man had announced during an online discussion on the internet that he was preparing an attack on Muslims, inspired by the one committed in March 2019 in Christchurch, in which 51 people were killed in two places of worship. "He intended to act the same way," according to the agency. Police investigators also found "far-right content files" on his electronic devices .
Far-right terrorism, the number one threat in Germany
Far-right terrorism is considered by the German authorities to be the number one threat to the country's security. Several attacks have been carried out in recent months. In June 2019, a conservative elected official who welcomed migrants was murdered at home. The suspect is close to the neo-Nazi movement.
Read also: Germany fears the resurgence of neo-Nazi violence
In October 2019, the day of Yom Kippur, a man, also close to the far right, had tried to enter a synagogue in Halle to commit a massacre. When he had been unable to enter the place of worship, he had killed a passerby and the employee of a snack bar, before being arrested. In February in Hanau, near Frankfurt, a man killed nine people, all of foreign origin, in several shootings targeting shisha bars, before killing himself.
Other attacks of this type have however been thwarted in recent months.
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