A 29-year-old Moroccan man who pulled a knife and threatened people at the Weimar Christmas market on Saturday evening has already been released from custody as police chiefs considered his charges to be insufficient to justify pre-trial detention.
The incident took place at the ice rink in front of the German National Theater, where families and children were skating during the first festive weekend. According to police, the man was harassing visitors when a witness confronted him. Officers say he immediately became aggressive and threatened the witness with a knife.
Bystanders stepped in, pushing him away from the rink towards a snack bar on Heinrich-Heine-Straße as the situation escalated. Police later wrote, “The 29-year-old pulled a knife in the course of [the altercation at the ice rink], creating a threatening situation. Bystanders noticed the action and pushed the man away from the Christmas market area. When the police arrived, the situation was initially confusing.”
Pepper spray was used to overpower the suspect after what officers called continued resistance. He was restrained, taken into custody, and three others were slightly injured by pepper spray during the intervention. “The 29-year-old was overwhelmed and taken to police custody,” the police statement added, as cited by Zeit.
But despite the confrontation, the knife, and the arrest, he is no longer being held. Police chief Christian Hackbart confirmed that the charges — threats, attempted assault, and violation of the event’s knife ban — were considered insufficient to justify detention.
Hackbart also said the man, who is already known to police for violence, was heavily intoxicated and has yet to be questioned.
In Bavaria, a second Christmas market faced disruption on the same weekend — this time through arson. Hours before opening day in Schorndorf, several club-run wooden huts were soaked with accelerant and set alight. As cited by Bild, Mayor Max Schmaderer said kerosene is believed to have been used. Surveillance footage reportedly recorded the perpetrators, and police are reviewing the material while appealing for witnesses.
A driver spotted the flames around 4 a.m. on Sunday and alerted emergency services. Firefighters prevented widespread destruction, though the municipality’s own booth also caught fire. Schmaderer wrote publicly: “We are all still deeply shocked,” calling the incident “a cowardly attack against volunteers and clubs, which must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Christmas markets across Germany have had to deal with the soaring costs of terror-proofing venues after several high-profile attacks in recent years. Some towns are resorting to installing anti-tank barriers at entrances to the markets, while others have planted heavy-duty bollards to protect areas of heavy footfall from vehicle attacks.
Some market organizers had to cancel this year’s festivities, insisting that putting on the event was simply not financially viable.
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