Investigators analyze second mobile phone of CSD attacker Abdul B. – Police president sees no conditions for ankle monitor

Berlin's Police President Barbara Slowik Meisel commented on the state of the investigation on Monday. She stated: „Beim mutmaßlichen Attentäter Abdul B. gab es vor dem Anschlag am Rande des Christopher Street Days am Samstag laut der Berliner Polizeipräsidentin Barbara Slowik Meisel nicht die Voraussetzungen für eine Fußfessel oder eine Präventionshaft." In doing so, she rejected accusations that the security authorities should have monitored or detained the suspect more closely prior to the attack.

Interior Senator Iris Spranger pointed to the legal instruments that had recently been expanded. „Ich möchte noch einmal betonen: Die Möglichkeiten, die wir in den vergangenen Monaten mit der Reform des Allgemeinen Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz und der Novelle des Verfassungsschutzgesetzes geschaffen haben, liegen auf dem Tisch", said Spranger. She was responding to the political debate about possible failures in the run-up to the attack.

Interior administration points to new laws

According to information from investigative circles, the investigators seized, in addition to the main device, a further mobile phone, the contents of which are now being forensically examined. The goal is to reconstruct possible contacts, chat histories, and instructions. Results are not yet available.

The attack occurred on Saturday on the sidelines of the Christopher Street Day demonstration. According to current findings, several people were injured in the act. Police and the public prosecutor's office continued to provide no comprehensive information on the background and exact sequence of events.

Among the injured is, according to media reports, Tiergarten citizen Samet Er, who was in the vicinity of the crime scene. No further details about his state of health were initially known. Berlin police secured the area extensively and set up a contact point for witnesses.

Hamburg connections under scrutiny

In Hamburg, according to information from security circles, there had already been prior contacts between investigative authorities and the suspect. Whether and to what extent these findings were passed on to the Berlin authorities is the subject of the ongoing investigation.

Politically, the SPD, which is responsible for interior policy in the state of Berlin, is under pressure. Interior Senator Spranger emphasized that the case would be fully investigated and that the new legal options would be consistently applied, provided the conditions were met.

The General Prosecutor's Office is conducting the proceedings on suspicion of a politically motivated violent crime. Should the analysis of the second mobile phone yield indications of accomplices or instigators, the circle of suspects could expand. To date, Abdul B. is being treated as the alleged sole perpetrator.

Police announce review of their own procedures

The analysis of the mobile phone is expected by investigators to take several days to weeks. In parallel, witnesses are being interviewed and possible connections of the suspect to the Islamist scene are being examined. The security authorities assessed the threat level for Berlin as elevated.

Berlin's Police President also announced a review of the force's own procedures in the run-up to CSD. This is to include examining whether information from other federal states was assessed in Berlin in a timely manner. The results of the internal review are to be incorporated into the final report.

With a view to upcoming major events in the capital, police and the domestic intelligence service stated that they had deployed additional personnel. The aim, they said, was to review the security concept for demonstrations and public festivals and adapt it to the new situation.