Halle shooting: Jews call for action against neo-Nazi threat

A gunman live streamed his attack on a synagogue in Halle in an echo of the Christchurch massacre.

Stephan Balliet films himself before the shooting. Picture: Supplied.

Jewish leaders demanded action from Germany on Thursday to protect the community and face down resurgent right-wing extremism, as a deadly anti-­Semitic gun attack on the holy day of Yom Kippur underscored the rising threat of neo-Nazi ­violence.

At least two people were shot dead and two were wounded in the eastern city of Halle on Wednesday, with a synagogue among the targets. The suspect, identified as 27-year-old German Stephan Balliet, filmed the assault and posted the video online.

The rampage was streamed live for 35 minutes on Twitch, and eventually seen by about 2200 people, the online platform said, in a reminder of the mosque attack by Australian Brenton Tarrant in Christchurch last March that was also online in real-time.

Police captured the Halle suspect after a gun battle that left him injured.

Chancellor Angela Merkel joined a solidarity vigil at Berlin’s main synagogue on Wednesday, and firmly condemned the anti-Semitic rampage.

Jewish leaders said words were not enough, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining calls for German authorities to “act resolutely against the phenomenon of anti-Semitism”.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany criticised authorities for failing to provide adequate security on such a key day. “It is scandalous that the synagogue in Halle is not protected by police on a holiday like Yom Kippur,” Josef Schuster said. “This negligence has now been bitterly repaid.”

Ronald Lauder, who heads the World Jewish Congress, said: “We need action not words” as he called for around-the-clock ­security for Jewish sites.

“We also need immediately to launch a unified front against neo-Nazi and other extremist groups, which threaten our wellbeing. The fact that, 75 years after the Holocaust, such groups are gaining influence in Germany speaks volumes.”

The gunman opens fire in Halle. Picture: AFP

In a copy of a 35-minute video, the gunman filmed himself launching into a diatribe against women and Jews, before carrying out the attack. The video’s ­authenticity has been confirmed by the SITE monitoring group.

The gunman also published an anti-Semitic “manifesto” online more than a week ago, according to SITE director Rita Katz, who said the document showed pictures of the weapons and ammunition he used.

In the video, he was seen trying to force open the synagogue door before shooting dead a female passer-by. He then tried unsuccessfully to blast open the gate of the Jewish cemetery with explosives. The man was later seen shooting at a patron of a kebab shop about 600m away from the synagogue, where the second victim, a man, was killed.

Jewish community leader Max Privorotzki, who was in the Halle synagogue, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung of the harrowing minutes as the site came under assault. “We saw through the camera of our synagogue that a heavily armed perpetrator wearing a steel helmet and rifle was trying to shoot open our door.”

Between 70 and 80 people were in the synagogue then, Mr Privorotzki said. “We barricaded our doors from inside and waited for the police,” he said, adding that “in between, we carried on with our service”.

Police block access to a street near the scene of the Halle synagogue shooting. Picture: Getty Images.

The owner of the kebab shop, Rifat Tekin, meanwhile described the gunman as “calm like a professional”. “Maybe he has done this many times. Like me making a kebab, he’s doing this — like a professional.”

Anti-terrorist prosecutors confirmed they were taking over the probe given “the particular importance of the case”, which involved “violent acts that affect the domestic security of the Federal Republic of Germany”.

Wednesday’s shootings came three months after the shocking assassination-style murder of local pro-migrant politician Walter Luebcke in the western city of Kassel, allegedly by a neo-Nazi.

AFP