In recent years, rioters have repeatedly attacked police and firefighters with firecrackers and fireworks on New Year’s Eve Photo: Julius-Christian Schreiner/TNN/dpa/BZ assembly
By Stefan Kost
Only now does a New Year’s Eve rioter end up in court. A comment from BZ editor Stefan Kost.
A 15-year-old falls into a veritable frenzy of violence during the New Year’s Eve riots. Not only does he tip garbage cans onto the street, he smashes the windows of a bus stop.
Worse still, he hurls a fire extinguisher into the windshield of an ambulance carrying an emergency patient. When the replacement ambulance arrives, another fire extinguisher flies.
The 15-year-old was caught later that night. Nine days later, the case is with the public prosecutor.
But it is only now, after 196 days, that charges are finally being brought. A trial date has not yet been set.
Should the boy ever be punished (juvenile justice), the punishment will have little effect as a deterrent. Neither for him nor for other rioters. Berlin must punish criminals faster. Otherwise the violence won’t get a grip.