What Motivated Germany’s Racist Deadly Attack?

FEATURING EMRAN FEROZ – The people of Germany got a horrific taste of American-style gun violence when a man walked into two bars in the town of Hanau near Frankfurt and fatally shot 9 people. All the victims were of immigrant origin. The suspect, known only as Tobias R., was in his 40s and apparently published a racist screed online before being found dead.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the nation saying, “There are many indications that the perpetrator acted out of far-right and racist motives, driven by hatred of people of different origin, different faith or different appearance…Racism is poison, hatred is poison that exists in our society and has been behind far too many crimes.”

Emran Feroz, independent journalist and the founder of Drone Memorial, a virtual memorial for civilian drone strike victims. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic, The Hindu, The Intercept, Alternet and several other media outlets. He is also a regular contributor to German-language newspapers and magazines.