A German man displayed alarming racist behavior last Friday, targeting a 17-year-old Syrian boy who was sitting in a subway train in Erfurt, the capital of the Thuringia state in central Germany, at 11 PM. The incident was recorded by another passenger on their mobile phone, and the footage quickly spread across social media and news outlets. Thanks to this video and witness accounts, the police identified the 39-year-old attacker, arrested him, and he is set to appear in a local court today.
The attacker approached the teenager, seemingly recognizing him as a foreigner, and asked, "You little creep, where are you from?" The boy did not respond, possibly not understanding the question, and remained silent and calm, according to a report from "Al-Arabiya" translated from the Munich-based newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung. In the footage, the attacker spit maliciously in the teen's face and screamed, "You came to my country like a stupid animal. Go back to where you came from," followed by another spit.
Despite the teenager sitting quietly without responding, the assailant continued his tirade, saying, "Call your mommy and daddy, kid (...) bow your head when I talk to you." He then raised his foot and kicked the boy in the face, followed by four additional kicks. When the boy tried to protect his face, his phone fell to the ground, which the German man picked up and smashed before exiting the train when it stopped.
A news site named "Dresden Arabic," which shares content on Facebook and possibly other social media, reported from the local newspaper Der Telegraph that witnesses contacted the police for help. A patrol eventually arrived, finding that the attacker had initially managed to flee. However, witness testimonies quickly led to identifying him and revealing his known history to the police. Additionally, reports mentioned that "Bodo Ramelow," the governor of Thuringia, was affected by the incident and took to his Twitter platform to announce the arrest of the racist, describing him as "cowardly and aggressive towards an unarmed person."
