Reaction to violence: blame in the debate about Aschaffenburg

After the fatal knife attack in Aschaffenburg, the mutual blame game continues in the middle of the federal election campaign. Like Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (both SPD) spoke on ZDF’s “heute journal” about failures in Bavaria too. “The local states are responsible for deportations. We notice that we don’t have enough deportation detention places and yes, we have enforcement deficits here.”

The Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “The perpetrator was obliged to leave the country and should no longer have been in the country. It is clear again: We are primarily dealing with an enforcement problem, not a legislative one.” In the “Bild” newspaper, Scholz called for a “change in mentality in all authorities” to implement the now stricter laws.

Simplify deportations?

Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Hermann (CSU) rejected allegations in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. On the question of whether deportations should be better transferred to the federal government, he said: “If the federal government said (…) that it wanted to take over all of this, I wouldn’t have anything against it – but that’s not a demand that we accept to judge the covenant.”

Criticism of the political discussion came from the President of the District Council, Achim Brötel. “Apportioning blame doesn’t help,” the district administrator told the German Press Agency. Deportations should be easier. “To date, we have too often had no real recourse in our country when it comes to people who are obliged to leave the country.”

Reul against “smoke candle activism”

After the incident, Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) further intensified his demand for comprehensive rejections at the borders. The AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel offered him in an open letter to decide on this with the Union in parliament before the federal election.

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”: “Catalogs of points, supposedly strong words, quick demands do neither justice to the suffering of the victims nor to the grieving parents, relatives and friends.” North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) spoke in the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” of “fog candle activism that doesn’t do anyone any good.”

Silent remembrance in the evening

Around 3,000 people gathered on Thursday evening after the horrific act for a silent remembrance in the park where a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man were stabbed to death on Wednesday. Three people were seriously injured.

The 28-year-old Afghan man who is said to be responsible was admitted to a psychiatric hospital under a detention order from the Aschaffenburg district court. He is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.

The suspected violent perpetrator had been known to the police and the judiciary for a long time – among other things because of allegations of violence and psychological problems. He is said to have rioted in a police station and injured three police officers. He had been under care since December last year and was said to have been admitted to a psychiatric hospital twice by the police.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, one of the ongoing investigations against him had not yet been completed because the authority had commissioned the obtaining of a psychiatric expert report. However, this order was initially suspended because the Central Immigration Office had informed the public prosecutor that the accused wanted to leave the country voluntarily. According to Bavaria’s Interior Minister Herrmann, he had previously not been able to be deported due to a lack of communication between authorities and a deadline that had passed.

Warning against prejudice against the mentally ill

The President of the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Euphrosyne Gouzoulis-Mayfrank, told the “Editorial Network Germany” (RND): “No danger can be derived from the fact that a person has a mental illness alone.” If psychiatrists and therapists receive indications that a patient poses a danger to themselves or others, they could take action today.

After the attacks in recent months – most recently at the Magdeburg Christmas market – the Marburg social psychologist Ulrich Wagner also believes it is possible that there will be imitation effects. “The more often you read about such acts, the more likely others are to copy them,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. “But not discussing the problems would be completely wrong. There is no solution to this dilemma.”