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Munich Car-Attack Trial Hears Brother and Friends as Suspect Weeps

Prosecutors argue recent messages and gestures point to an Islamist motive.

Overview

  • At the Munich higher regional court on Friday, friends and the defendant’s brother described him as quiet, polite and focused on fitness, and he broke into tears during their testimony.
  • Witnesses said his posts shifted in the weeks before the attack as he followed online preachers, urged people to pray and signed off messages with a Tauhid finger emoji and “God be with you.”
  • Police notes cited in court say he told his brother “I am sure that I will become a martyr,” and the brother said he later raised the Tauhid index-finger gesture during a jail visit.
  • Federal prosecutors charge the 25-year-old with two counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder for driving a white Mini Cooper into a Ver.di rally in Munich on February 13, 2025, killing a mother and her two-year-old and injuring more than 40 people.
  • Many victims still report lasting physical and psychological harm, and the court has set additional hearings through the summer with a possible life sentence at stake.