Residents in Hanau, Germany, awoke Thursday morning to find more than 50 cars and several buildings covered in swastikas painted in blood, shocking a town already scarred by a far-Right massacre five years ago.
Police said a 31-year-old Romanian man was arrested at his home hours later after a witness recognized him near one of the vandalized streets and alerted authorities. When officers arrived, he was drunk and bleeding from cuts that appeared self-inflicted. Investigators described the incident as the result of “personal and job-related stress,” not an act driven by hate or antisemitism.”
“He was still under the strong influence of alcohol and his motive appears to be highly personal and job-related — he just snapped,” Police spokesman Thomas Leipold said.
He was taken into custody and later transferred to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Tests are underway to confirm whether the blood used in the graffiti came from the suspect himself after investigators verified it was human. Forensic teams have also collected fingerprints and tool marks from damaged car doors and windows to rule out other suspects.
Nevertheless, the case has stirred anger and unease in Hanau, where in 2020 a far-Right extremist murdered nine people at a local shisha bar, targeting residents of Kurdish and Turkish descent.
Germany’s integration minister Natalie Pawlik called the blood-painted symbols “a threat and an attack on our democracy,” while Green Party co-leader Omid Nouripour said the act “strikes at the heart of Hanau and reopens old wounds.”
Germany’s criminal justice system enforces strict penalties for those who deny the Holocaust or provoke hatred towards minority groups. Persons caught selling swastikas, displaying the Nazi salute, and proclaiming phrases such as “Heil Hitler” could face up to five years in prison.
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