This week, many German citizens were appalled to hear the details of what allegedly occurred on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.
According to eyewitness accounts and a number of apparent victims, hundreds of “Arab or North African” men engaged in coordinated sexual assaults and robberies across Germany with attacks reported in Cologne, Hamburg, and Stuttgart.
“These people that we welcomed just three months ago with teddy bears and water bottles … started shooting at the cathedral dome and started shooting at police,” one hotel bouncer who witnessed the melee in Cologne said. “Ms Merkel where are you? What do you say? This scares us!,” read a sign carried by protesters in demonstrations held on Tuesday.
While German officials universally decried the attacks, Cologne mayor Henriette Reker drew sharp criticism for suggesting that it was German women’s responsibility to keep would-be assailants at “arm’s length.” Reker dug herself an even deeper hole by saying Germany needed to better educate migrants on cultural norms. “We need to explain to people from other cultures that the jolly and frisky attitude during our Carnival is not a sign of sexual openness,” she said.
