Arrested at the airport Influencer in custody for firing rockets into apartment
The New Year's Eve rocket that an influencer shot into a residential building fortunately did not injure anyone. (symbolic image)
Image: dpa
The burning rocket only damaged furniture in the apartment. (symbolic image)
Image: dpa
The New Year's Eve rocket that an influencer shot into a residential building fortunately did not injure anyone. (symbolic image)
Image: dpa
The burning rocket only damaged furniture in the apartment. (symbolic image)
Image: dpa
He just wanted to leave the country, now he's in custody: the action of an influencer in Berlin has consequences for the man from the West Bank.
05.01.2025, 17:53
06.01.2025, 08:42
dpa
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- An influencer shoots a rocket into an apartment building in Berlin-Neukölln on New Year's Eve.
- The outrage is huge. Now the man has been arrested.
- An arrest warrant has been issued for the 23-year-old from the West Bank.
The influencer who shot a rocket into an apartment in Berlin-Neukölln on New Year's Eve has been remanded in custody. An arrest warrant has been issued for the 23-year-old from the West Bank, said Michael Petzold, spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor's office, to the German Press Agency. He had remained silent about the accusations.
The man was arrested by federal police officers at the capital's BER airport on Saturday. The public prosecutor's office assumed that the man was a flight risk because he is not resident in Germany. He is accused of attempted aggravated arson, attempted grievous bodily harm and damage to property. The accused will be sent to Moabit prison, said Petzold. He wants to challenge the decision of the magistrate with a detention review.
Public prosecutor's office sees "reckless" endangerment
"His aim was to reach the largest possible audience by committing crimes," Petzold told dpa before the arrest warrant was issued. The public prosecutor's office is accusing the man of "recklessly" endangering human life. This had to be taken into account as an aggravating factor.
According to the public prosecutor's office, serious arson carries a prison sentence of at least one year, and dangerous bodily harm carries a minimum of six months. Damage to property is punishable with a fine. Because the expected sentence is high, it can be assumed that the man will evade criminal proceedings, Petzold had said before the arrest warrant was issued.
The police union had expressed relief at the arrest. "This is important for the work of our colleagues and also sends an important signal to the public," state head Stephan Weh told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper. "If you shoot a rocket into a child's room, it's usually not enough to just say sorry."
In a video posted by the Arab influencer on Instagram, the man was seen setting off a firework rocket from his hand and aiming it at an apartment building. The footage then showed the rocket flying through a window and exploding inside.
Man quickly throws the rocket out of the window
According to the police and the public prosecutor's office, the burning rocket damaged furniture in the bedroom of the 33-year-old apartment owner. The man quickly threw the burning remains of the rocket out of the window and was thus able to prevent the fire from spreading to the apartment. "The man's family in the apartment and he himself were unharmed."
The accused has since deleted the video and apologized to those affected in another post. He told "Zeit Online" before his arrest: "I didn't want to deliberately hurt anyone." He was very sorry for what he had done. He did not know how a rocket worked. He was in Germany as a tourist and wanted to fly back to his home country. According to "Zeit Online", he speaks Arabic and does not understand German.
"Do they think I'm a refugee?"
The influencer told Bild, which witnessed the arrest at the airport, that the police didn't want anything from him. That's what the officers said. He was then arrested shortly afterwards.
At the same time, he expressed a lack of understanding for the investigation on "Zeit Online". "What do the police want from me? Do they think I'm a fugitive?" He had cleared up the matter with the owner of the apartment. "We sorted it out personally," he said. "From Arab to Arab, face to face." He experienced a lot of racism as a result of the action. When he woke up on New Year's morning, he said, he had many angry messages in his inbox, including hate messages and racist insults.