Germany marks fifth anniversary of racist mass shooting in Hanau

Germany has marked the fifth anniversary of the racist mass shooting in the western city of Hanau which saw nine people killed by a far-right extremist.

At a ceremony on Wednesday, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the incident was “an attack on our open society and our liberal democracy.”

He said the same was true of “presumably Islamist-motivated attacks in recent months” which have dominated the German election campaign ahead of the vote on February 23.

Steinmeier called for resistance against racism, right-wing extremism, Islamism “and against every other form of misanthropy.”

“It is up to us to ensure good coexistence, every day and again and again. That is the message we should send out from Hanau to our country today,” the president added.

On February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old German targeted young people with a migrant background at a shisha bar, killing nine before shooting dead his mother and himself.

Four bereaved families also addressed the crowd of 400 guests at the memorial service.

They called for decisive action against racism and hatred, as well as further clarification of the circumstances of the crime.

Emis Gürbüz, the mother of the murdered Sedat Gürbüz, reiterated the families’ criticism regarding the failings of the police and authorities.

Gürbüz said that she did not accept the apology made last year by Roman Poseck, interior minister of the western state of Hesse, for mistakes made during the police operation.