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2w ago

Video Found on Attacker’s Phone Links Berlin Pride Rampage to Islamic State

Federal prosecutors say the recorded pledge has widened a terrorism probe and could prompt tougher monitoring and sentencing of known extremist suspects.

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Women lay flowers at a tree in the Tiergarten Park, near the scene where a car rammed into people after Saturday's Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Flowers and rainbow flags placed in front of the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the victims of a car attack on Saturday's Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
BERLIN, GERMANY - 2026/07/26: A public information screen displays a Berlin police appeal for information about Abdul Ballout, the suspected attacker in the car attack near the CSD Pride parade. On the evening of July 25, a car drove into people in Tiergarten park, killing one person and injuring 29 others. Authorities are searching for the suspected attacker. (Photo by Vasily Krestyaninov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Overview

  • A rented van ploughed into a crowd near the closing events of Berlin Pride on Saturday and the attacker then attacked people with a machete, killing a 65-year-old Polish woman and injuring about 29 to 31 others.
  • Police located the suspect the next day and shot him after he allegedly lunged at officers with a bladed weapon; he died at the scene on Sunday.
  • Investigators recovered a phone in the rented van and federal prosecutors confirmed a masked person on a video on the device pledges allegiance to the Islamic State, triggering an expanded terrorism investigation and forensic analysis of other material from the suspect’s flat.
  • Prosecutors say the 21-year-old suspect traveled to Lebanon in 2025 seeking to join IS, was arrested there, returned to Germany and in May received a suspended juvenile sentence of one year and ten months for preparing a serious act of violence while prosecutors had already filed an appeal.
  • Senior officials including the chancellor and interior minister are pressing for tools such as electronic monitoring and tougher use of adult-law penalties for serious terrorism-linked cases, a debate that could reshape probation and sentencing rules ahead of regional elections.