German shooter had racist, xenophobic motives

A 43-year-old German man killed nine people of foreign descent and injured six others in a shooting rampage on Wednesday outside Frankfurt, Germany. In a manifesto posted online, the suspect, who gave his name as Tobias Rathjen, called for the “complete extermination” of many “races or cultures in our midst.” Police said all of those killed had foreign backgrounds. Authorities found the alleged shooter and his 72-year-old mother dead at his home after the attack.

Did he act alone? German investigators said they are trying to find out whether the shooter had any outside support. The attack began at a hookah bar, a Middle Eastern smoking lounge, in a neighborhood frequented by immigrants. “Racism is a poison. Hatred is a poison,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the shooting. “This poison exists in our society, and it is responsible for far too many crimes.”

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in The Sift about a far-right terror plot that German law enforcement thwarted recently.