How Berlin Pride killer was free to carry out fatal car attack despite ISIS conviction as soft-touch Germany reels again

DESPITE a terrifying series of murderous Islamist attacks in recent years, German authorities still allowed the Berlin Pride attacker to remain free. And this was despite knowing he had previous convictions for violent offences and had flown to Syria to join notorious terrorist group ISIS. Abdul Ballout, 21, was allowed to carry out his fatal car ramming despite prior ISIS convictions Credit: AFP The suspected terrorists rammed into revellers at a Berlin Pride event on Saturday Credit: AFP People comfort each other at the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade in Tiergarten park Credit: EPA People at a mourning site in front of the Brandenburg Gate, near the attack site Credit: EPA Soft-touch Germany has been rocked by multiple murderous car-ramming and knife attacks by Islamist extremists over recent years. Its police had known for years about the danger posed by Abdul Ballout, 21. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The terrorist killed one woman and injured 29 others when he rammed into revellers with a white van on a pedestrian path in Tiergarten park on Saturday. He then went on a machete rampage before fleeing the scene on foot. Ballout was still free to attack people despite his conviction for preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state. He also had previous convictions for assault and robbery committed in 2019 and 2020. The bombshell revelations have placed Germany’s legal system under intense scrutiny. “We know that he committed a large number of offences, that he sympathised with terrorism, and that there was a conviction against him,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. Most read in The Sun A body, believed to be Ballout’s, is taken away after a police shootout Credit: AP Investigators are probing how Ballout was able to rent a van and launch his attack Credit: Reuters Chancellor Friedrich Merz appeared dumbfounded as to how Ballout was able to slip through the net. He said: “I cannot understand how I can track my mobile phone from anywhere in the world yet it is supposedly impossible for security authorities in Germany to determine the whereabouts of individuals classified as security threats to that same extent.” He added: “It is still too early to say what political conclusions we will draw from this brutal attack … We will have to respond with prudence, but also with determination.” Doctors responding to the tragedy said those still receiving treatment had suffered mainly stab wounds, while others sustained multiple fractures after being struck by the vehicle. Three patients had improved sufficiently to leave intensive care, while another remained in intensive care but was recovering. The attack triggered one of Berlin’s biggest recent manhunts. Police searched for Ballout for almost 21 hours before specialist officers found him inside an allotment colony in Berlin-Spandau on Sunday evening. Berlin Police said he hurled himself at officers carrying a bladed weapon before officers opened fire. Heavily-armed police stand in a garden house colony in Spandau district where they reportedly confronted and shot Ballout dead Credit: Getty German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (centre), Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (centre right), Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (right) and Family Minister Karin Prien (second left) pay their respects Credit: EPA Emergency crews attempted to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene. The Federal Prosecutor has since taken over the investigation as a suspected Islamist terrorist attack. Questions are now being asked about what authorities already knew about the lone wolf terrorist before the attack. According to the Berlin General Prosecutor’s Office, he first came to the attention of the security services while still a teenager after becoming radicalised by murderous Islamist ideology. Prosecutors said he travelled via Turkey to Lebanon, intending ultimately to reach Syria and fight for ISIS. While in Lebanon, investigators say he contacted individuals he believed were members of the Islamic State terror group before being arrested there in July 2025. After serving a jail term in Lebanon, he was returned to Germany and arrested immediately on arrival at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in November last year. He remained in custody until his trial. Mourning march with several hundred participants after the funeral service in the Berlin church St. Marien Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Critics have slammed Germany for its lenient approach to potential terrorists Credit: Reuters In May this year, the Tiergarten Youth Court convicted him of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state together with offences relating to prohibited Islamic State propaganda. But in a move critics argue showed jaw-dropping leniency, he was handed a youth sentence of just one year and 10 months. The court also lifted the arrest warrant and postponed deciding whether the sentence should ultimately be suspended under youth criminal law. That meant Ballout was released under supervision, free to roam the streets before carrying out his fatal terrorist attack at the peaceful Berlin Pride event. The Berlin General Prosecutor’s Office appealed both the sentence and the decision to release him, arguing they were far too lenient. But given the agonisingly slow pace of the German judicial system, the appeal had still not been decided when the attack took place. “It is difficult to understand how someone assessed in this way could have been released,” Dobrindt said. The case has become the centre of a national political debate. Police comb the crime scene Credit: AFP Emergency responders work on the site where one was killed and 29 were injured Credit: Reuters Berlin Justice Senator Felor Badenberg questioned whether the current rules governing youth criminal law remain appropriate in cases involving extremist offenders. “We must fundamentally examine whether the legal standards we currently have for applying youth criminal law are still appropriate,” she said. She stressed that judges had applied the law as it currently stands, but argued parliament should ask whether the existing framework still reflects the challenges posed by young adult extremist offenders. Johannes Winkel, chairman of Germany’s Young Union, said the case demonstrated the need to reconsider whether convicted Islamist extremists should continue to benefit from youth criminal law provisions. SPD interior expert Sebastian Fiedler urged a careful examination of how existing laws had been applied, while Green politician Konstantin von Notz said any failures identified by the investigation would be unacceptable. The debate has also extended to Germany’s wider counter-terrorism strategy. ARD terrorism expert Michael Götschenberg described Ballout as a “typical case”. “The fact is that these people cannot all be watched around the clock,” he said. An apartment building allegedly stormed in connection with the incident Credit: AFP German police have been accused of lacking teeth Credit: Shutterstock Editorial He said the authorities had concluded there was no immediate operational need for continuous surveillance. Another ARD terrorism specialist, Holger Schmidt, said the threat posed by Islamist terrorism had not diminished. “The threat from Islamist terrorism has never become smaller,” he said. Thomas Mücke, whose Violence Prevention Network had only recently begun working with Ballout, said only two meetings had taken place before the attack. “He was very friendly, not aggressive, but very adapted and very evasive in his answers about his ideological attitudes,” Mücke said. Meanwhile, investigators ruled out one early line of inquiry after releasing a second man – reportedly an Iranian national – who had initially been detained. The Federal Prosecutor said the suspicion against him had not been proven. Across Germany, the attack prompted vigils and tributes for the victims. The Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in rainbow colours. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned the attack, saying: “Violence against innocent people finds no justification in Islam.” It added: “Anyone who uses religion to spread hatred or commit violence acts against the ethical principles of Islam and abuses faith for inhuman purposes.” Speaking from Lebanon, Ballout’s father said he had spoken to his son only hours before the attack. “He was brainwashed,” he said. The latest attack has also renewed attention on a succession of deadly extremist attacks and security incidents that have battered Germany in recent years. In December 2016, Islamist attacker Anis Amri drove a hijacked lorry into Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. In October 2019, far-right extremist Stephan Balliet attempted to force his way into a synagogue in Halle during Yom Kippur before killing two people nearby after failing to breach the building. In June 2021, Somali asylum seeker Abdirahman Jibril Ahmed carried out a knife attack inside a Woolworth store in Würzburg, killing three women and injuring eight others before being shot by police. In January 2023, two people were killed and six injured when a stateless Palestinian attacked passengers on a regional train near Brokstedt in Schleswig-Holstein. Security concerns intensified in October 2023 after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Berlin synagogue complex, while another suspect allegedly attempted to force entry into a Jewish community centre. In April 2024, an incendiary device was thrown at a synagogue in Oldenburg. Weeks later, police officer Rouven Laur was fatally stabbed while intervening during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, prompting nationwide mourning. In August 2024, three people were killed and eight injured in a knife attack at a festival in Solingen, later claimed by Islamic State. Germany also remained on heightened alert during the 2024 European Championship after ISIS-linked propaganda channels issued threats against host cities. Taken together, the attacks and plots have kept terrorism, violent extremism and public security at the forefront of Germany’s political debate as investigators probe what led to the Berlin Pride attack.