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The man detained in connection with the stabbing of a Spanish tourist at Berlin\u2019s Holocaust memorial on Friday may have been planning for weeks to kill Jewish people, according to German authorities.<\/p>\n
The suspect, a 19-year-old Syrian refugee, was carrying a copy of the Quran, a prayer rug and a piece of paper with the attack\u2019s date and Quran verses when he was apprehended, suggesting a \u201creligious motivation,\u201d the Berlin police said on Saturday. In a joint statement<\/a> with the public prosecutor\u2019s office, they added that things the suspect had said to the police suggested that over several weeks \u201ca plan to kill Jews came together in his mind,\u201d and that the location of the attack also reflected this idea.<\/p>\n The police said they had not ruled out connections to the Middle East conflict but had found no evidence linking the suspect to other groups or individuals. He came to Germany in 2023 as an underage refugee, was a legal resident and had no criminal record, the authorities said, adding that were also investigating if mental illness had played a role in the attack.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old victim, whose name was not made public, sustained neck injuries that required him to have emergency surgery and be placed in a medically induced coma, officials said, but his life was no longer at risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The attack took place at Berlin\u2019s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, an expansive memorial across the street from the U.S. Embassy. It came as Germans prepared to vote in a divisive national election<\/a> on Sunday, and amid a rise in antisemitism<\/a> across Europe.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s economic problems, coupled with frustration over immigration, are central issues to voters in a parliamentary election where the far-right party<\/a>, Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has risen in the polls.<\/p>\n The AfD party, which has been linked to neo-Nazis, has promised to crack down on immigration and deport some immigrants, a message that has gained traction in a country that has suffered a series of attacks perpetrated by people from Afghanistan and the Middle East.<\/p>\n An asylum seeker from Afghanistan rammed his car into a union demonstration in Munich<\/a> on Feb. 13, injuring dozens, and in December, a Saudi citizen killed six people and injured hundreds more when he drove his car<\/a> through a Christmas market in central Germany.<\/p>\n Lars Dolder contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n