Berlin shop owner attacked repeatedly after posting signs against antisemitism
Youths allegedly attacked a 67-year-old wheelchair user in Berlin's Kreuzberg district with pepper spray and blows, police said. State security officers are investigating.
Symbolic image · Photo: Lear 21 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
A 67-year-old shop owner who uses a wheelchair was attacked several times by youths within three days in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, police said. He had put up notices against hatred of Jews in his shop window in early October. On Oct. 7, about six youths allegedly insulted him and sprayed him with pepper spray; the next day a group allegedly repeated the attack with irritant spray and blows.
On the evening of Oct. 9, witnesses saw up to eight youths on e-scooters kicking and hitting the shop's front door, damaging it, according to police. The state security division of the State Criminal Police Office is investigating dangerous bodily harm, insult and property damage and is examining a possible antisemitic motive. No arrests have been reported.
On Sunday evening the man told the Tagesspiegel newspaper about his fear following the attacks. Neighbours drop by the shop after work so he is not left alone. "The press is also a form of protection," he told the paper.