Confession video found on phones of killed CSD attacker

According to information from "Der Spiegel," the man in the video is veiled, but it is presumably B. Whether the person in the video is definitively Abdul B. remained initially unclear. The mobile phone had been found in the vehicle used in the attack. In the video, Abdul B. is said to have confessed in Arabic to the attack in Berlin's Tiergarten and to the terrorist organization "Islamic State." According to "Bild," the video was recorded on July 25 — that is, on the day of the attack.

In the attack on the sidelines of the major event, a 65-year-old woman from Poland was killed. 31 other people were injured, some of them seriously. The Pride Parade in Berlin was aborted on Saturday after a car drove into a crowd at the edge of the major event. The driver left the car and fled, according to police. According to German media reports, a confession video is said to have been found on the phone of the suspected attacker.

Course of the attack and victims

The suspected perpetrator Abdul B. was killed on Sunday evening during a police operation in an allotment garden complex in Berlin-Spandau. "On Sunday evening, the suspected perpetrator Abdul B. was then killed. During a police operation in an allotment garden complex in Berlin-Spandau, the 21-year-old is said to have run at the officers with a stabbing weapon," it was stated. Berlin's SEK special unit shot at him. According to police, he died at the scene despite immediate resuscitation measures initiated by the Berlin Fire Department.

Investigators also found the sheath of a machete in the transporter. The corresponding blade has so far disappeared. Investigators assume that the perpetrator may have disposed of it during his flight. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said: "Er sei mutmaßlich auch mit einer Machete auf Passanten losgegangen, sagte der deutsche Innenminister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU)." Using mantrailer dogs, investigators reconstructed the presumed escape route from the Großer Tiergarten park via the Brandenburg Gate to Friedrichstraße station, according to BILD. From there, the 21-year-old is said to have eventually made his way to Berlin-Spandau. At that time, numerous visitors to the CSD were still in the area. Why the suspect left the device behind is so far unclear. It is possible that it was lost during the impact of the vehicle.

Confession video with ISIS pledge of allegiance

A similar procedure had already occurred in the attack on the Berlin Christmas market in December 2016, when the terrorist Anis Amri recorded an ISIS confession video before his truck attack. The perpetrator of the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack, Anis Amri, had also recorded a similar video before his lorry attack.

Abdul B. was already known to the authorities before the crime. According to research by WDR, NDR, and the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," the suspected CSD attacker Abdul B. was classified as a threat and was even assessed as a "high-risk person" by a BKA analysis tool. Abdul B. was born in Germany in 2005 and grew up in Berlin. He held dual citizenship and had Lebanese roots.

Prior history and conviction

On May 12, 2026, the juvenile court panel at the Tiergarten Local Court convicted the man of "preparation of a serious act of violence endangering the state" and of a violation of an enforceable ban on an association. It imposed a juvenile sentence of one year and ten months. The Federal Prosecutor's Office Berlin had filed an appeal, but the probation was lifted. After the conviction in May, the arrest warrant against Abdul B. was lifted, and the man was released on probation.

According to findings by the Berlin Prosecutor's Office, Abdul B. had developed the desire in the second half of 2025 to join ISIS's armed struggle. "Er soll das Video am Tattag aufgenommen haben," it was further stated. The father of the suspected CSD attacker Abdul B. expressed suspicion in an interview with Der Spiegel that his son had been subjected to brainwashing.

Political reactions and demands

Following the attack, a broad political debate about consequences was triggered. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) brought three concrete proposals into the discussion: increased surveillance of threat suspects, preventive detention, and a tightening of juvenile criminal law. Dobrindt demanded: "Wir brauchen Regeln, die dafür sorgen, dass Gefährder nicht mit Jugendstrafrecht behandelt werden und schon gleich gar nicht auf Bewährung in Freiheit kommen." CSU state group leader Hoffmann also said on Deutschlandfunk: "Ich glaube, dass wir durchaus im Lichte dieser Ereignisse kurzfristig reden können über das Thema Fußfessel."

Eren Güvercin of the Alhambra Society said in an interview that Islamism is not a phenomenon that only emerged in 2015. "Wenn wir von den Schlüsselakteuren der islamistischen Szene bei uns sprechen, dann sind das in der Tat mehrheitlich Akteure, die häufig in Deutschland geboren und aufgewachsen sind, hier sozialisiert sind." Güvercin demanded: "Mehr Ehrlichkeit von der muslimischen Gemeinschaft – das verlangt Eren Güvercin von der Alhambra-Gemeinschaft nach dem CSD-Anschlag." Cem Özdemir, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (Greens), criticized the reaction of Islamic umbrella organizations: "Wenn man die Erklärung der islamischen Dachverbände liest, wird einem das Motiv des Täters nicht klar." He further said: "Es kann da keinen Kulturrabatt geben."

Debate on radicalization prevention

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned the attack. "Unsere Gedanken und Gebete sind bei den Opfern, ihren Angehörigen sowie allen Menschen, die diese schreckliche Tat miterleben mussten," the association stated. "Wo Menschen aufgrund ihrer Identität oder ihrer Lebensweise zur Zielscheibe von Gewalt werden, werden die Grundwerte unseres Zusammenlebens angegriffen." Brandenburg's Social Minister Wilke offered the queer community support: "Die Regenbogenflagge ist zum Kampfsymbol geworden."

In Baden-Württemberg, Interior Minister Manuel Hagel (CDU) demanded a significantly tougher course against Islamists and threat suspects: "Wir müssen raus aus der Naivität." Hagel also stated that the threat situation from extremists is greater than ever. Tübingen criminologist Jörg Kinzig expressed skepticism about tightening juvenile criminal law specifically for threat suspects: "Hier für eine einzelne Gruppe Veränderungen vorzunehmen, scheint mir nicht sinnvoll." On the ankle monitor, Kinzig also said: "Wenn eine Person wild entschlossen ist, eine Straftat zu begehen, dann muss man so ehrlich sein, die bloße Fußfessel wird ihn vermutlich nicht davon abhalten."

Threat suspects and security measures

According to the BKA, 410 people are currently assigned to the area of Islamist terrorism or extremism and classified as Islamist threat suspects. Of these, police authorities assign 166 to the category of "religious ideology," primarily Islamist extremism. In North Rhine-Westphalia, police currently classify 182 people as threat suspects. These figures come from current surveys by the NRW Ministry of the Interior. Nationwide, 147 people were wearing an electronic ankle monitor at the end of June, according to a report by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung." Of these, 128 were convicted offenders.

The North Rhine-Westphalian exit program on Islamism (API) has been supporting people since 2014 who want to break away from their Islamist environment, often including so-called threat suspects. API exit counselor Stefanie Adler explained: "Was wir in den letzten zwei Jahren beobachten, ist, dass die Klientel deutlich jünger geworden ist. Die Sozialen Medien wirken wie ein Radikalisierungsverstärker, und das auch einfach viel schneller." Abdul B. had attended two preliminary meetings at a deradicalization program in Berlin in June and July, but the exit counselors did not have the feeling that he really wanted to exit.

A debate has erupted in Germany about what consequences should be drawn from the act. Cem Özdemir, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (Greens), said on Tuesday in Stuttgart: "Es muss schon klar sein, dass es sich um einen schwulenfeindlichen, queerfeindlichen Anschlag handelt." He called on Islamic umbrella organizations to address homophobia more strongly. He rejected threats accompanied by conspiracy theories naming the AfD or the Russian secret service as the masterminds: "B