Four years after the racist attack in Hanau, the South East Hesse Police Chief has publicly apologized to the victims’ families. This marks the first time that the police have admitted to errors in handling the situation.
Police admit to mistakes in handling the attack
More than four years after the tragic racist attack in Hanau, Daniel Muth, the current Police Chief of South East Hesse, has issued a public apology to the families of the victims. His statement follows a similar apology made by the current Interior Minister, Roman Poseck (CDU), in June. Muth told the Frankfurter Rundschau on Wednesday, “I join in this apology.”
Muth further admitted, “We made mistakes in dealing with the victims and their families.” He explained that during a politically motivated attack, “a so-called state situation should have been triggered at the State Criminal Police Office, where control would be handed over to an especially experienced police leader and their command staff.” This protocol, he stated, was not followed at the time.
No initial acknowledgment of police errors
On February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old German man killed nine people in Hanau out of racist motives. The victims were Gökhan Gültekin, Sedat Gürbüz, Said Nesar Hashemi, Mercedes Kierpacz, Hamza Kurtović, Vili Viorel Păun, Fatih Saraçoğlu, Ferhat Unvar, and Kaloyan Velkov. After the attack, the perpetrator also killed his mother and himself. A parliamentary investigation in the Hessian state legislature produced a 750-page report with 60 recommendations, many of which fall under the responsibility of the Interior Ministry.
However, neither the then Interior Minister, Peter Beuth (CDU), nor the then head of the South East Hesse Police Department acknowledged any police errors during the operation. The South East Hesse Police Department, based in Offenbach, is also responsible for Hanau.
Families criticize lack of accountability
In the interview, Muth elaborated, “We have identified the mistakes made at the time, such as in the delivery of the death notifications.” He also acknowledged the pain of the victims’ families, stating, “The relatives have vividly described how difficult it was for them not to know whether their loved ones were dead, alive, or where they were. That must have been very hard to bear.”
The February 19th Initiative, which includes victims’ families, other affected individuals, and supporters, has repeatedly accused the police of mishandling the operation. Additionally, there has been criticism over the lack of political accountability and the absence of any consequences following the attack.
