Several men described as being of a “southern appearance” attacked and seriously injured a 21-year-old man after a Berlin gay pride event.
The attack took place on Sunday in the German capital after 21-year-old Janluca W. and his friends had attended an LGBT pride event and sat down for a drink in the James-Simon-Park in Berlin’s Mitte district.
According to Janluca W., he had an LGBT flag hanging out of his backpack with the German Social Democrats (SPD) logo on it, when he was suddenly attacked from behind by a man who kicked him in the hip, Tagesspiegel reports.
As the 21-year-old turned around to see who had attacked him, he was punched in the face, suffering a double jaw fracture in the process.
The attackers, around four or five people, took out the LGBT flag from the backpack and stepped on it before running away.
As a result of his injuries, Janluca W. had to have 18 screws and two titanium plates inserted in his jaw. Police are investigating the incident, but the victim does not believe the perpetrators will be caught because there were no cameras in the area and none of his friends can give an accurate description of the attacker.
When asked for a description, Janluca W. said the men had a “southern appearance” — a euphemism frequently used by German police to describe migrants of a foreign appearance.
Police have previously been criticised for using the term in the past, with the Integration Council of the City of Bielefeld saying in 2018: “Presumably no southerner from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, or southern France is meant here – and certainly not a German with black hair.”
“In our experience, the term southerner is more likely to be associated with a refugee, Turk, or Moroccan, and this confirms the prejudice that criminals are very likely to come from these regions,” they added.
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