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Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women

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  • Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women

    The mayor of Cologne has summoned police for crisis talks after about 80 women reported sexual assaults and muggings by men on New Year's Eve.

    The scale of the attacks on women at the city's central railway station has shocked Germany. About 1,000 drunk and aggressive young men were involved.

    City police chief Wolfgang Albers called it "a completely new dimension of crime". The men were of Arab or North African appearance, he said.

    Women were also targeted in Hamburg.

    But the Cologne assaults - near the city's iconic cathedral - were the most serious, German media report. At least one woman was raped, and many were groped.

    Most of the crimes reported to police were robberies. A volunteer policewoman was among those sexually molested.

    The pretty Christmas market and medieval setting may look idyllic, but at Christmas and New Year the area around Cologne Cathedral is a notorious danger zone when it comes to pickpockets and theft.

    Now the sexual harassment, and in one case rape, of dozens of women has shocked Germany.

    What is particularly disturbing is that the attacks appear to have been organised. Around 1,000 young men arrived in large groups, seemingly with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women.

    Police in Hamburg are now reporting similar incidents on New Year's Eve in the party area of St Pauli. One politician says this is just the tip of the iceberg.

    And there are real concerns about what will happen in February when the drunken street-parties of carnival season kick off.

    Cologne will stage carnival events in February, with hundreds of thousands of revellers expected in the streets, as on New Year's Eve.

    The police chief said "the assailants' behaviour is a real concern for me, also because of the carnival".

    Police were deployed outside the central station because of the crowds on New Year's Eve, but failed to spot the many attacks, according to reports. There are also fears that a number of women did not report assaults.
    'Monstrous' assaults

    Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said the attacks were "monstrous". "We cannot allow this to become a lawless area," she said, insisting that visitors could not come to the city fearing attack.

    German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted that "we won't tolerate these abhorrent assaults on women - all those responsible must be brought to justice".

    One man described how his partner and 15-year-old daughter were surrounded by an enormous crowd outside the station and he was unable to help. "The attackers grabbed her and my partner's breasts and groped them between their legs."

    A British woman visiting Cologne said fireworks had been thrown at her group by men who spoke neither German nor English. "They were trying to hug us, kiss us. One man stole my friend's bag," she told the BBC. "Another tried to get us into his 'private taxi'. I've been in scary and even life-threatening situations and I've never experienced anything like that."

    The justice minister warned against linking the crimes to the issue of migrants and refugees.

    Germany saw a record influx of migrants in 2015, which provoked an intense debate on immigration and marches by the anti-Islam Pegida movement.

    Mr Maas said "the law does not discriminate regarding a person's origin or passport. All are equal before the law".

    Cologne news website Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger says the suspects were already known to police because of frequent pickpocketing in and around Cologne central station.
    Wider problem

    In Hamburg several women told police that gangs of men had molested and robbed them on New Year's Eve on the Reeperbahn - a street known for its boisterous night life.

    Some similar attacks were reported in Stuttgart.

    A policeman who was outside Cologne station during the New Year's Eve trouble told the city's Express news website that he had detained eight suspects. "They were all asylum seekers, carrying copies of their residence certificates," he said.

    However, there was no official confirmation that asylum seekers had been involved in the violence. Commentators in Germany were quick to urge people not to jump to conclusions.

    German n-tv news says Cologne police are considering calling in reinforcements from other parts of Germany and installing extra surveillance cameras, with telescopic lenses.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35231046

    How's this incident playing in Europe? Is Merkel or the EU going to be able to continue accepting refugees at the rate they have been after an incident like this?
    I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
    For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

  • #2
    I know what Americans would do.
    I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
    - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

    Comment


    • #3
      Shoot everyone?

      Have a gun battle.

      Yikes!

      Comment


      • #4
        Great thread, DD.
        Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Dinner View Post
          Great thread, DD.
          It gets better: Mayor says women should have code of conduct to prevent future assault
          I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
          For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

          Comment


          • #6
            GTFO!
            I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
            - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

            Comment


            • #7
              Oh my god!!
              We should close the borders immedieately!
              This changes eveything!
              Western civilization is at risk!
              Thank you for saving the west DD

              Comment


              • #8
                I see reports on social media that it's being spun to fit the leftist narrative; male perps, not Muslim perps. I don't see anything in the main stream media yet though.
                I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

                Comment


                • #9
                  The media in Germany didn't cover it for 5 days, and only did so because it spread on social media and women protested.
                  I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                  - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    So it is the victims fault violent predatory packs of animals tear the clothes off of their bodies and then rape or sexually assault them? This is disgusting.
                    Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bereta_Eder View Post
                      Oh my god!!
                      We should close the borders immedieately!
                      This changes eveything!
                      Western civilization is at risk!
                      Thank you for saving the west DD
                      There were 90 sexual attacks and more robberies by Arab gangs (all recent migrants or at least the ones caught were) and Cologne was not the only city as Arab gangs did the exact same thing in Hamburg and Stuttgart.

                      Yes, people should be angry and be demanding action especially since Merkel had been trying to cover up such attacks and keep them out of the media.
                      Last edited by Dinner; January 6, 2016, 19:05.
                      Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Kidicious View Post
                        The media in Germany didn't cover it for 5 days, and only did so because it spread on social media and women protested.
                        Is that actually true?
                        I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                        For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by DinoDoc View Post
                          Is that actually true?
                          Yeah. I don't see any articles specifically on that but I read it in one. I just don't remember which one. That's why it's only in the news now
                          I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                          - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Police and media accused of cover-up to avoid stoking anti-immigrant feeling after witnesses say men who carried out attacks were of Arab appearance


                            The events have since come to dominate German media, but following a barrage of complaints on social media that the New Year’s Eve events were deliberately under-reported amid fears they would encourage anti-immigrant sentiment, Germany’s public broadcaster, ZDF, was forced to apologise for its decision not to report on the attacks until Tuesday, four days after they had occurred.

                            “The news situation was clear enough,” the show’s deputy chief editor, Elmar Thevessen, wrote on the Heute (Today) programme’s Facebook page. “It was a mistake of the 7pm Heute show not to at least report the incidents.”
                            I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                            - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              All kinds of interesting reactions. From source I just posted.

                              Kristina Schröder, a former family minister from the CDU, said it was high time for Germany to deal with the cultural differences. “For a long time it was taboo, but we must grapple with masculinity norms that legitimise violence in Muslim culture,” she tweeted
                              So it's their culture? Or is it masculinity? These are thugs.
                              I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                              - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

                              Comment

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