Thousands of people attended a vigil on Sunday, July 26, following an attack at Berlin Pride which left one person dead and at least 29 injured. Members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies gathered in Pariser Platz, just a few hundred metres from where the incident took place.

At around 10pm the night before (Saturday, July 25), a white vehicle drove through a crowd at Tiergarten park near Brandenburg Gate, and some people were also stabbed with a blade officials believe could have been a machete. Hundreds of thousands had gathered for the annual Christopher Street Day celebration, as part of the German capital’s Pride festival.

The event was cancelled shortly after, and the crowd was evacuated. At about 1am, authorities confirmed that one woman had been killed and various others had been injured. 

Police later found the vehicle they believed to have been used in the attack, which had crashed into a tree. At about 3:30am, they identified a suspect, 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, who is said to have Islamist links. Authorities conducted a city-wide search, ultimately shooting and killing the man at an allotment complex in Spandau, after he rushed at officers with a knife.

The suspect was known to police and had been radicalised. In May of this year, he was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for “preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state”. The decision had been deferred for six months, and he had been placed under the supervision of a parole officer.

 

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At Sunday’s vigil, attendees held a moment of silence and waved Pride flags, with one person holding a sign reading, “From grief, to anger to resistance!” The gathering hit maximum capacity about 30 minutes after beginning, leading police to limit attendance due to security precautions.

The international community also spoke out in solidarity, with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin writing on social media, “My thoughts and prayers go to the victims of the horrific attack on the Pride parade in Berlin last night. Hate or violence can never be tolerated. This attack goes against everything this celebration, and the EU stands for.”

Dublin Pride similarly extended their thoughts to those affected, echoing the words of CSD Deutschland: “Today we mourn together. And from tomorrow, we will rise again together – for one another, for diversity and for a world in which no one has to fear for their life because of their identity or way of life.”

Cork Community Pride shared, “Pride should always be a space where our community can gather openly, safely and joyfully. An attack on people coming together to celebrate who they are is an attack on the values of freedom, equality and community that Pride represents. From Cork to Berlin, we stand together.”

 

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Belfast Pride, which also took place this weekend, said they were “devastated to hear news of the heinous attack at Berlin Christopher Street Day (CSD) Pride Event”.

“Pride has always been about more than celebration. It is about standing together in the face of hate, refusing to be intimidated, and continuing to fight for a world where every LGBTQIA+ person can live openly, safely, and proudly,” the organisation added.

Dublin-based Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre also published a statement on social media, reading: “Violence at Pride cuts particularly deep because Pride is one of the few places where LGBTQ+ people can gather openly, visibly, and without apology. When that sense of safety is threatened anywhere, it is felt everywhere.”

They continued: “Our history reminds us that we’ve faced hatred before. What has always carried us through is community, solidarity, and the determination to keep showing up for one another. Our community knows what it is to face hatred. We also know the power of answering that hatred by standing closer together.”

Other Berlin Pride events were cancelled in light of the attack, with organisers saying they were “deeply profoundly saddened” by the incident. They also thanked “all helpers and emergency responders who acted immediately”, as well as “all volunteers and all those who wanted to demonstrate peacefully with us.”

At a press briefing, the team added, “The CSD organisation in Berlin stands for solidarity, respect, coexistence; a city open to the world was on the street [on Saturday]…

“We do not want this deed to be instrumentalised for political ends. We don’t want any groups to be placed under suspicion for this. People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others. As the CSD in Berlin, we will not allow this.”