Terrorism: Terror information on 14-year-old Christmas market as a goal?

According to information from security circles, there is terror notes for a 14-year-old young person from Cologne. The German Press Agency learned that. It is said to have shared propaganda of the so -called Islamic State (IS) and intended to commit an attack on a Christmas market in Cologne in December 2025. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported.

The 14-year-old’s apartment was searched on Friday, as the Cologne public prosecutor said. The authority therefore has an investigation against the teenager. He was accused of having shared videos and symbols with IS reference. Officially, it is about “violation against the ban on the” Islamic State “(IS) in the Federal Republic of Germany” and the public use of prohibited license plates, said a spokesman.

Prosecutor: 14-year-old came to the police voluntarily

The Cologne public prosecutor’s office emphasized that the procedure she conducted does not include any investigations into the accused of the accused on a Christmas market. The 14-year-old also voluntarily came to the police to have his identity determined. He was officially not taken into custody.

“Further information cannot be made public to protect the investigation and to safeguard the personal rights of procedural participants,” said a spokesman. The investigation in this case continued.

“Shaved fantasies”

NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) called it “outrageous” that a 14-year-old was already “so on”. “A young man not only glorified and spread IS propaganda on his social media channels, but also shared attack fantasies,” he said.

According to information from security circles, the 14-year-old is said to have published two videos and a contribution to the terrorist organization on his Tikok profile. In addition, he is said to have spread a statue with the loyalty rig on the current IS caliph.

And not only that: In the course of the investigation, the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia encountered further social media profiles of the suspect, on which he is said to have published Islamist content.

In the case of an “operational exchange of information” by the security authorities, indications of attack considerations by the young person were known. It was about an attack on a Christmas market in Cologne next December. He is also said to have thought about an departure. The police took him into custody and treated him by identification, it was initially said.

“Break box for extremism”

“Social media are fire accelerators for extremism. Tikkok is no longer just a stage for dances, but has become an incubator for extremism,” said Reul. There is a real -time radicalization – on the smartphone, in your pocket. “We also have to keep an eye on these channels. Also means: The platform providers are more responsible. I am glad that our security authorities intervened early.”

Memory of attack plans at Christmas market in Leverkusen

It was only last year that a 15-year-old was sentenced to a youth penalty of four years in Cologne, who, according to the regional court, had agreed to an Islamistically motivated attack on a Christmas market in Leverkusen. The two young people had therefore planned to get a truck to drive into the amount of visitors. The somewhat older accomplice also received a four -year prison for the murder for the appointment.

The self -blstricalization of young people through social media has been a phenomenon for some time that causes security authorities. “We had now increased cases in which minors were radicalized via Tikok,” said the President of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Mario Germano, around January. This applies in particular to Islamist perpetrators or planned Islamist attacks. Many of these accused would have found access to Islamism via Tikok in the first place.