Overview
- On Thursday a man poured a flammable liquid at a side entrance of the Bergische Synagoge in Wuppertal and set it alight, but synagogue members extinguished the flames and no one was injured.
- Police arrested a 37-year-old Afghan national in the immediate area and say initial evidence indicates he acted alone.
- Officers searched the suspect’s apartment and recovered several knives, a machete and a mobile phone that investigators are now forensically analysing.
- Prosecutors obtained a Haftbefehl and a judge ordered the suspect held in Untersuchungshaft on charges of attempted serious arson while police seek witnesses including two young women seen near the scene.
- Community leaders warned the attack, which comes days before Jom Kippur, fits a wider pattern of attacks on Jewish sites and the Staatsschutz unit that handles politically or ideologically motivated crimes is leading the probe.