A 43-year-old German shoots nine people in Hanau for racist reasons, then kills his mother and himself. More than four years have passed since the police chief of Southeast Hesse, Daniel Muth, asked the victims’ relatives for an apology.
“We made mistakes,” said Police President Muth in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau. In the case of such an attack, the State Criminal Police Office should have been involved and experienced police officers should have taken the lead: that did not happen at the time. With his request for an apology, Muth follows the current Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU), who already addressed the relatives of those involved in the Hanau attack in June.
Committee of Inquiry in the State Parliament
Mistakes were also made in dealing with the relatives, for example in breaking the sad news of their deaths, Muth continued. Neither former Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) nor the then police chief admitted any mistakes made by the police during the operation. An investigative committee of the Hessian state parliament looked into the crime and made 60 recommendations for action in its 750-page final report – most of which fall under the responsibility of the Interior Ministry.
Those affected criticise the lack of consequences
The February 19th Initiative, which brings together relatives of the victims and other people affected by the attack as well as supporters, has repeatedly accused the police of making mistakes during the operation. It has also criticized the fact that no one took political responsibility after the attack and that there were no consequences.
