On Saturday night, Abdul Ballout crashed his car into crowds that were celebrating Berlin’s annual LGBT Pride festival, killing one attendee. Using a machete, he then wounded 29 others, three of whom are reportedly in serious condition. Special forces caught up with him, and he was shot dead after he lunged at them with a “bladed weapon.”

Earlier, the German interior minister had described Ballout, 21, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, as “having previously drawn attention to himself ‌through a high ⁠volume of criminal offences, ⁠radicalization and affiliation with the Islamist scene.” He has since described Ballout’s action as an Islamist terror attack.

In The Spectator, Elizabeth Dampier writes that Ballout had tried to join ISIS in 2025:

On his return he was arrested and imprisoned in a youth detention centre before being released in May 2026 and told to take part in a deradicalisation programme. He had gone to two sessions, with the third due to take place on Monday.

The rituals that followed atrocities such as that on Saturday night were observed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned Ballout’s “attack on our society,” flags flew at half-staff, and, as usual, some on the left tried to change the subject.

Dampier says:

Some in the German media were quick to try and steer the conversation away from any uncomfortable questions. On the NTV television channel, one journalist said that the greatest threat to sexual minorities came from the far-right. Berlin’s public television station RBB agreed, attacking the far-right as well.

It’s not hard to see why the German establishment, like authoritarian “liberals” or “centrists” throughout Europe, is so keen on censorship. (For an update on the EU’s latest move in that direction, please check out John Gustavsson’s recent article.)

Dampier:

Similar crimes have become an uncomfortably regular part of German life. Just under two weeks ago, 22-year-old student Marius Dick was stabbed to death without provocation by an Afghan man. The same day, another Afghan with a knife attacked people at a train station in Ruhpolding, Bavaria, with schoolchildren fleeing in panic.

The list of victims of migrant crimes in Germany has grown so long that it has given rise to its own remembrance rituals. Sven Kyrath’s 17-year-old daughter Anne Marie died when she was stabbed 27 times by a Palestinian asylum seeker. He now joins the families of 150 other victims in organising memorial marches, determined that their names should not be forgotten. He and the other organisers have invited Chancellor Merz to attend, so far without success.

Coward.