Althouse: "A truck ran into a Christmas market Monday evening in a major public square in Berlin, killing nine people and injuring at least 50 others..."

December 19, 2016

"A truck ran into a Christmas market Monday evening in a major public square in Berlin, killing nine people and injuring at least 50 others..."

"'A truck just ran over a sidewalk at #Breitscheidplatz Our colleague report multiple injuries. more to follow,' Berlin police tweeted."

51 comments:

Michael K said...: This is just the beginning. Twelve Days of Christmas will be exciting.; 12/19/16, 2:33 PM
whitney said...: Will the authorities say the motive was a mystery?; 12/19/16, 2:39 PM
eric said...: This reminds me, Democrats make laws working on the assumption that their fellow humans are stupid. You can't control your own social security money because you'll end up retiring broke. And if they just outlaw guns, no one will be able to carry out massive terror attacks.

Human ingenuity always overcomes these people.; 12/19/16, 2:39 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: The Islamofascists will learn. Western governments, like all others, are utterly indifferent to the lives of their citizens or subjects. Do what the guy did to Russia, attack a government official, then you will get the attention you crave.; 12/19/16, 2:46 PM
Darrell said...: Diverse enough for you?; 12/19/16, 2:46 PM
Wince said...: "I also sexually assaulted a horse... in Berlin!"; 12/19/16, 2:48 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: This incident will be all "nothing to see here." But put one little bullet in Frau Merkel's brain and they're all going home tomorrow. And nobody will have to ask who "they" is.; 12/19/16, 2:48 PM
Unknown said...: Using these big trucks to attack crowds instead of guns makes a perverse sense: the truck can hit a lot more people; it can move faster, has more mass; and frankly, the driver is a lot harder to kill because he's shielded behind the engine and the door somewhat.

I recall the story of some disgruntled construction worker a decade or so ago, when the town council put him out of business. He armored up a bulldozer, I think it was, and went to work.

There was nothing to stop him; the police could do nothing. The guy didn't want to kill anyone, but he did enormous amounts of damage in the couple of hours before either his machine died or they finally crawled on top of it and yanked off enough to shoot inside or something like that.

--Vance; 12/19/16, 2:50 PM
Fernandinande said...: Stuck gas pedal says "allahu akbar".; 12/19/16, 2:51 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Personally I'm afraid of the backlash that's sure to follow--we must stand with the brave German Muslims and insist that they be spared any criticism or suspicious looks. The future, after all, must not belong to those who slander the name of the prophet of Islam.

Heck of a job, Merkie.; 12/19/16, 2:51 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Gee, I wonder if the driver was an angry Jew or not? Should I start reading the articles?; 12/19/16, 2:55 PM
mccullough said...: And there are some in Europe and elsewhere who say we can work with the Islamists. Let them come to Berlin.; 12/19/16, 3:04 PM
traditionalguy said...: Trump on TV has spooked the Muzzies. They saw what he did to the Saudi supported candidate, and the survivors remember The Mad Dog's tactics.

Time is short for ISIL.; 12/19/16, 3:07 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Blogger Bay Area Guy said...
Gee, I wonder if the driver was an angry Jew or not?

At least a Jew would have more justification. What did the Germans do to the Muslims? They opened their country, hearts and wallets. Ingrates.; 12/19/16, 3:12 PM
n.n said...: Probably a fanatic driven by the Left's anti-native hysteria. Everyone loses.

From Benghazi to Aleppo to Ankara to Kiev to Berlin, Obama's legacy is secure... and Merkel came tumbling after.

That said, the victims of progressive wars do not want immigration "reform". They want someone to stand with them, to confront the transhuman terrorists, and to return to their homes. America lost the high ground since premature evacuation following the end of the Iraq war became a segue to social "justice" adventurism and redistributive change.; 12/19/16, 3:12 PM
mockturtle said...: Will the authorities say the motive was a mystery?

Of course! Even if the perp quotes the Qur'an on being arrested. And, of course, it could be 'mental illness', which is especially rife in the Muslim community.; 12/19/16, 3:12 PM
Coconuss Network said...: Black Semi Truck was hijacked in Poland. So far 9 people dead, and 50 injured in Berlin Inner City.; 12/19/16, 3:31 PM
hombre said...: German Christmas shoppers meet the Allahu Akbar Religion of Peace. Thanks Angela!

(Anybody think I'll have to retract this because the assailant will turn out to be a Buddhist or some such?); 12/19/16, 3:33 PM
mtrobertslaw said...: Why is the junior varsity still on the floor? Obama told us the game was over.; 12/19/16, 3:33 PM
readering said...: Scrolled down looking for an interesting comment. Maybe I'll come back later.; 12/19/16, 3:35 PM
Che Dolf said...: ISIL isn't the problem.

"The tiger that rips men open is following his nature; the real criminal is the man who launches him on society."
- Joseph de Maistre; 12/19/16, 3:43 PM
Sebastian said...: O to Islam: cut it out.; 12/19/16, 3:45 PM
Alexander said...: J ust another tragedy
I mpossible to know the reason
H ow can we ever know?
A valuable lesson though:
D enounce those who hate, not those who include; 12/19/16, 3:49 PM
James Pawlak said...: Another expression of Muslim orthodoxy in following the unalterable command of the Koran to wage "perpetual war" against we "unbelievers".

PS---IN RE JIHADII CAEDITE EOS NEVIT ENIM DOMINUS QUI SUNT ELUS; 12/19/16, 3:51 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: readering said...Scrolled down looking for an interesting comment. Maybe I'll come back later.

We're insufficiently entertaining! Well, in fairness, what is there to say? It's almost routine, in a way--horrible, terrible, predictable...and bordering on routine. Sad.; 12/19/16, 3:56 PM
RJ said...: Workplace violence?; 12/19/16, 3:57 PM
SukieTawdry said...: Authorities have apprehended the suspected driver, according to a police spokesman.

And the suspect is--TADA--The background is still unclear.

Should we hazard a guess?; 12/19/16, 3:58 PM
Scott said...: Well, someone needs to deliver more antacids to Frau Merkel's office.

ISIS has claimed responsibility, of course. Anyone's guess whether true or not, the MO matches Nice, ISIS has been pushing vehicle attacks, and a Christmas market would be a no brainer soft target. It's not impossible it was a heck of a DUI accident, though from some Polish Gastarbeiter doing deliveries, though. The truck's from Poland (Danzig specifically, FWIW) and claimed stolen.

As to whether or not it's the truth, beats me. I find it interesting in that they haven't released the ID of the dead guy in the cab yet.; 12/19/16, 4:12 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Yahoo news is describing it as a truck crash.; 12/19/16, 4:22 PM
whitney said...: Sudden Jihad Syndrome (SJS); 12/19/16, 4:23 PM
Michael K said...: "Yahoo news is describing it as a truck crash."

Well, it is winter in Berlin.; 12/19/16, 4:38 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @EDH Those were Democrats fleeing this country. They will get what they deserve. Clip was funny however you interpret it!; 12/19/16, 4:56 PM
Scott said...: Update: The dead guy in the cab was IDed as Polish and apparently the driver of the truck. Trucking company says they lost contact with him around 4 PM local time.

It looks like someone carjacked him, killed him then used this to carry out a terrorist attack ala Nice. DUI this isn't, most drunks don't drive around with their passenger bleeding out next to them.

Dollars to donuts we find out the driver was doing this on religious/ideological reasons. I'm starting to find the ISIS claim quite a bit more plausible, alas.; 12/19/16, 4:57 PM
Dr Weevil said...: I thought I recognized the scene, though German and Austrian Christmas markets do tend to look quite similar, and looked it up on Google Maps. It turns out the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market is where I bought the scarf I wore today, as well as some very tasty pastries. I've only been to Berlin once in my life, eight days in early December 2013, but my hotel was half a mile east of there, and Christmas markets start weeks before Christmas. The food is varied, tasty, and not all that expensive. I should note that the victims probably included quite a few Muslims, especially if the [expletive deleted] ran over any of the people working in the booths, not just shoppers.; 12/19/16, 5:00 PM
Clyde said...: "It's my nature," said the scorpion.; 12/19/16, 5:02 PM
Oso Negro said...: I spent a week in Berlin in November. Everynight I went to the Kristkindlmarkt in Potsdamerplatz for gluhwein and bratwurst. The brats were being prepared by a traditional German Turkish family.; 12/19/16, 5:03 PM
Clyde said...: It's been almost thirty years since I lived in Berlin, but when I was there, I went to the Christkindlmarkt at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche more than once. It makes me sad to think of people so barbaric as to attack innocents at a Christmas market, and even sadder to think that other people thought it was a good idea to invite such barbarians into their midst.; 12/19/16, 5:06 PM
mockturtle said...: I should note that the victims probably included quite a few Muslims

Yeah, but they were probably Shia. They needed to die.; 12/19/16, 5:51 PM
Tarrou said...: RELIGION OF PEACE RELIGION OF PEACE!; 12/19/16, 5:55 PM
PB said...: Assassination in Turkey, assault with a vehicle in Berlin and Obama plays golf. Fore!; 12/19/16, 5:56 PM
Jupiter said...: Merkel is said to be in mourning. Must have been a friend of hers.; 12/19/16, 7:10 PM
Jupiter said...: They have caught the Muslim. He hijacked the truck and killed the driver, then drove it into a crowd of people at a Christmas Market. Twelve dead so far, many others injured. The Eurocrats are so outraged that they are going to hunt down his entire family. And bring them to Germany to live in a luxury hotel, so they can visit him during his brief stay in a low-security "rehabilitation facility".; 12/19/16, 7:26 PM
mockturtle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/19/16, 7:30 PM
mockturtle said...: Merkel is said to be in mourning.

For the victims or for the terrorist?; 12/19/16, 7:32 PM
SukieTawdry said...: According to the Daily Mail, the driver is an Afghan refugee. The truck was stolen from a construction site. The German election is Feb. 12. There's speculation that a series of attacks will lead up to it. There's also talk that now that Putin's done throwing our election to Trump, he's turned his sights on Merkel.; 12/19/16, 8:06 PM
Scott said...: Actually, while I'm sure that Putin (and everyone else, including us) will probe Merkel's email for weaknesses to use to gather information, I doubt he would have much to do to disrupt the German elections. Merkel's popularity is cratering n a mirror image of the rise of the anti-immigrant AFD party, and people blame her for the policies that are resulting in mass rapes, terror attacks and murders in Germany.

While I don't think AFD will win the premiership (just because of a lack of coalition partners), I suspect they will do very well int he federal elections, and Merkel's bunch will crater.

And yeah, death toll is now 12, and the driver was apparently an Afghan 'refugee'.; 12/19/16, 8:31 PM
hawkeyedjb said...: From the first news, it was a good bet that the Mohammed Factor would be 100%.

Turned out to be a good wager.; 12/19/16, 9:20 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: What's sad is we will never know the motivation of the killer.
On the NPR story about the Turkish cop assassinating the Russian ambassador, they mentioned that the killer shouted out slogans about getting revenge for Syrians killed in Allepo. Nothing about Islam or "Alahu Akbar" (which is Arabic, not Turkish).
So if your sole source of news was our very highly paid public broadcasting journalists, you would be in the dark about why a Turk would kill a Russian official over dead Syrians.; 12/19/16, 9:46 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: I guess there's sarcasm going on here. CNN showed the video of the shooting or at least some of it and I sure thought I remembered hearing the Allahu Snackbar and seeing him with the finger making the Disco Isis sign.; 12/19/16, 11:25 PM
Steve said...: I read that as Blitzkriegplatz. Pretty sure that makes me a bad person.; 12/20/16, 7:16 AM
Scott said...: Update:

Apparently the Pakistani immigrant arrested is potentially not the terrorist, as per the German federal police. Investigation's still ongoing, and they haven't found the small-caliber pistol used to kill the passenger, and are talking about perpetrator or 'group of perpetrators'.

Spiegel is reporting that the truck was parked Monday evening in a Arabic district where the cargo of steel frames were to be unloaded at a construction site. The driver left the cab to get a kebab, later someone started and moved the truck three times as per GPS data before the attack. The Polish driver of the truck was later found dead in the cab as a passenger. It looks like someone carjacked the truck, killed the Polish driver, then carried out the attack, and it's starting to look like terrorism to me.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/berlin-lkw-spur-fuehrt-nach-polen-a-1126643.html; 12/20/16, 3:21 PM