Borussia Dortmund team bus bombing

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Borussia Dortmund team bus bombing
Anschlag auf den Mannschaftsbus von Borussia Dortmund 011.jpg
The hedge damaged by the blasts
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Dortmund
Dortmund (North Rhine-Westphalia)
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Red pog.svg
Dortmund
Dortmund (Germany)
Location Dortmund, Germany
Coordinates 51°26′59″N7°30′22″E / 51.44972°N 7.50611°E / 51.44972; 7.50611
Date11 April 2017 (2017-04-11)
19:15 [1] [2] CEST (UTC+2)
TargetBorussia Dortmund team
Attack type
Bombing
Weapons3 explosives
Deaths0
Injured2
Motive Market manipulation

On 11 April 2017, the tour bus of the German football team Borussia Dortmund was attacked with roadside bombs in Dortmund, Germany. Three bombs exploded as the bus ferried the team to the Westfalenstadion for the first leg of their quarter-final against Monaco in the UEFA Champions League. One of the team's players, Marc Bartra, and a policeman were wounded, but the strengthened windows of the bus prevented casualties.

Contents

On 21 April 2017, German police arrested a man on suspicion of planting bombs to drive down the Borussia Dortmund share price and profit by put warrants he bought prior to the attack. [3]

Bombing

The team bus of Borussia Dortmund was attacked with three homemade pipe bombs while on its way to Westfalenstadion in Dortmund. The bombs were hidden in hedges by the roadside and detonated at around 19:15 local time (17:15 UTC). [1] [2] They were packed with sharp metal pins and had a reach of about 100 meters (109 yards). Based on the type of detonator and explosive involved, German authorities assumed it was a "terrorist involvement". [4] The bombs used military detonators and the explosives may have come from military stocks. [5] Spanish footballer and Dortmund's team member Marc Bartra was wounded by shards of glass from the shattered bus window; he was taken to a nearby hospital where his right wrist was immediately operated on. [6] A policeman suffered blast injury and shock; he was escorting the bus on a motorcycle. [7] It is considered very likely that without the strength of the bus that there would have been mass casualties. [8]

At the time, the bus was on its way to the first leg of Borussia Dortmund's 2016–17 UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Monaco at the Signal Iduna Park; the match was rescheduled for the following day, which they lost 3–2. [9]

The team bus of Borussia Dortmund in 2015 Borussia Bus.jpg
The team bus of Borussia Dortmund in 2015

Investigation

The German police and state lawyers treated the bombing as attempted murder and a planned attack on Borussia Dortmund. There were three claims of responsibility: one left at the scene claiming an Islamist motive, one posted on the internet claiming an 'anti-fascist' motive [6] [10] (which was deemed to be fake), [11] and one later sent to a newspaper claiming a far-right motive. The German Federal Prosecutor's Office initially called the attack an act of terrorism with possible Islamist involvement. [12] The Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia called the attack "professional". [13] Police investigated whether it was an attack by Islamists, by the far-left or by the far-right. [14] According to German media at the time, investigators also considered whether a foreign security service was behind the bombing. [15]

Claims of responsibility

There were three differing claims of responsibility. The first claim was found in three identical letters left at the scene. The letters said the attack was retaliation for German military intervention against Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, accusing it of being responsible for killing Muslims. It demanded that the US military base in Ramstein be shut down and the German Tornado jets be withdrawn from Syria. It threatened further attacks on non-Muslim celebrities in Germany unless the demands are met. [10] [16] The letters were seen as unusual, as previous ISIS-linked attacks in Europe did not come with such confessions. Unlike previous video claims of responsibility, the letters directly addressed the German chancellor and had no religious justifications, ISIS logo, or signature. [17] German newspapers later reported that investigators had "significant doubts" over the letters' authenticity, and suggested they may have been written to frame Islamists. [18] [19]

Another claim was posted on the left-wing, open-publishing website IndyMedia. Initially there were claims that the Borussia Dortmund supporter's groups were infiltrated by neo-Nazi sympathizers which in the beginning, people believed could have led to the terrorist attacks. It said the attack was committed because Borussia Dortmund did not do enough against racists and Nazis, who are believed to have some involvement in the club's supporter groups. [10] The claim was removed as fake, and police also treated it as fake. [11]

A few days later, a third claim of responsibility was sent to the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel , which hinted at a far-right motive. The anonymous e-mail praised Adolf Hitler and attacked multiculturalism, adding that the attack was a "last warning". [18] [20] A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutors said the claim was being investigated. [21] The letter also threatened another attack on protesters who plan to demonstrate against the Alternative for Germany party's conference in Cologne on 22 April. [22] Police also considered the possibility that the attack was carried out by the far-right in order to incite backlash against Muslims. [23]

Suspects

In the initial stage of the investigation, the police identified two suspects and arrested one of them. The apartments of both suspects were searched for clues. [12] The arrested suspect was an Iraqi immigrant living in Wuppertal and was suspected of being an Islamist extremist. [24] [25] Police believed he led an ISIS unit in Iraq involved in killings, kidnappings, smuggling, and extortion. [26] [27] However, police later concluded he was not responsible for the Dortmund bombing. [28] [21]

On 21 April 2017, the federal prosecutor announced that it had arrested a 28-year-old German-Russian citizen, identified as Sergej Wenergold, on suspicion of 20-fold attempted murder, bringing about an illegal detonation of explosives, and aggravated battery. The man had been staying at the Borussia team hotel. He planted explosives along the road where the team bus would later leave to the stadium. During check-in, he chose a room with a window facing the road so he would be able to remotely trigger the explosion when the bus passed by. It was revealed that on the day of the attack, he had bought put warrants for €78,000 from an investment bank using the internet connection in his hotel room. Put warrants are derivatives that increase in value as the underlying security drops in price, a mechanism similar to short-selling. They would have made him a large profit of up to €3.9 million if Dortmund's share price had indeed plummeted after a successful attack, but it only dropped by 5% after the attack and later recovered. The unusual transaction raised suspicion of money laundering with bank employees, prompting them to alert authorities and pass to them the identity of Wenergold, which led to his arrest. Police also said the suspect left letters at the scene of the crime to frame Islamic terrorists for the attack. [3] The Atlantic criticized that the general public were too quick to blame Islamic extremists despite authorities challenging the veracity of the letters, and said the suspect belonged to a new category of extremism that they called "terrorism for profit", [29] The Guardian called it "terror fuelled by financial greed". [3]

Trial

Sergej Wenergold was charged with 28 counts of attempted murder for the attack. He admitted during the trial that he learned how to make the bomb on Google. [30] He also said that he intentionally put less materials in the bomb than suggested on Google so that way he would not kill them. [30] He used three pipe-made bombs in his attack. [30] Marc Bartra, a defender for Borussia Dortmund, testified at the trial of Wenergold and saying that he feared for his life as the bomb blew up and injured him. Bartra in the attack suffered a fractured wrist and had to spend five days in the hospital in the aftermath of the attack. Wenergold had tried to apologize to Bartra during the trial, however, Bartra would not acknowledge his attacker as he discussed how his life had been altered by the bombing of the team bus. [31] German prosecutors in court argued that Wenergold should be sentenced to life in prison for his actions. [32] Wenergold argued that he did not mean to kill anyone with his attack but the prosecutors argued that it was not true and that he intended to kill as many Dortmund members as possible. [32] In November 2018, Sergej Wenergold was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus. [33]

Aftermath

The match was postponed until the following day at 18:45 local time (16:45 UTC), which resulted in a 3–2 win for Monaco. [34] [6] While Borussia Dortmund wanted the game to be postponed more than one day, UEFA pushed for the game to be played regardless or they would have to forfeit. [35] After consulting with the players, Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke announced that the team had agreed to play. However, Thomas Tuchel, the team's manager complained publicly that the decision was forced upon them. There is a belief that this spat was the beginning of the end of Tuchel's tenure as manager of Borussia Dortmund, despite the team's victory in the DFB-Pokal at the end of the season. [36] Both Monaco and Dortmund fans united in friendship after the bombing. [37] Many Dortmund fans, Germans and local hotels offered Monaco fans free food and places to stay for the night. [38] Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel expressed her appalled reaction to the attack. [39] The staff of Borussia Dortmund and former football player Lothar Matthäus criticized the short-term planning of UEFA. [40]

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References

  1. 1 2 ""Targeted attack on the BVB Team Bus"". Borussia Dortmund. 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 ""How it happened: Explosion hits Borussia Dortmund bus ahead of Champions League game"". Deutsche Welle. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Dortmund attack: man arrested on suspicion of share-dealing plot". The Guardian. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Dortmund bus attack: 1 detained, 'terrorist involvement' suspected". CNN. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Dortmund attack explosive 'from German military' - media". Die Welt . 15 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Borussia Dortmund: Sprengstoffanschlag beim BVB – Was wir wissen, was nicht - WELT". DIE WELT. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (12 April 2017). "Dortmund: Anschlag auf BVB-Bus - Ermittler nehmen Verdächtigen fest - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 12 April 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Boyle, Danny; Hall, Melanie; Sawer, Patrick; Rothwell, James (12 April 2017). "Borussia Dortmund explosions: Islamist suspect arrested over bus bombs as prosecutors investigate 'terrorist link'". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Anschlag auf Borussia Dortmund gibt Ermittlern Rätsel auf" (in German). Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (12 April 2017). "Anschlag auf BVB-Bus: Ermittler prüfen zwei Bekennerschreiben - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 12 April 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 tagesschau.de. "Anschlag auf BVB: Ist Antifa-Bekennerschreiben ein Fake?". tagesschau.de (in German). Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Anschlag in Dortmund: Zwei Verdächtige, eine Festnahme". sueddeutsche.de (in German). 11 April 2017. ISSN   0174-4917 . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Anschlag auf Fußballmannschaft: NRW-Innenminister: Bomben auf BVB-Bus waren sehr professionell". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 13 April 2017. ISSN   0174-4909 . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (13 April 2017). "NRW-Innenminister Jäger über Anschlag in Dortmund: "Die Sprengkraft war enorm" - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 13 April 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "New message claims responsibility for Dortmund blast". Die Welt . 15 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Oltermann, Philip; Connolly, Kate (12 April 2017). "Borussia Dortmund blasts: suspect 'from Islamist spectrum' detained". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (12 April 2017). "Anschlag auf Mannschaftsbus: Das ungewöhnliche Bekennerschreiben von Dortmund - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 12 April 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. 1 2 "Borussia Dortmund bombs: Letters at scene 'not from Islamists'". BBC News. 14 April 2017.
  19. ↑ Mortimer, Caroline (14 April 2017). "Major doubts about letters claiming Islamist motive for Dortmund attack". The Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Prosecutors are investigating if Dortmund bombing could have been the work of right-wing extremists". The Independent. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  21. 1 2 "Germany probes new message claiming Dortmund attack". Agence-France Presse. 15 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "German police investigate far-Right link to Dortmund bombing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Pancevski, Bojan (16 April 2017). "Dortmund attackers wanted to incite backlash against Muslims". The Times. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  24. ↑ Gaul, Simone; Breitinger, Matthias; Beyer, Tim; Fritsch, Oliver (12 April 2017). "Anschlag auf BVB-Bus: Ein verdächtiger Islamist festgenommen". Die Zeit. ISSN   0044-2070 . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "Nach Anschlag auf BVB-Bus: Festgenommener Tatverdächtiger soll Iraker aus Wuppertal sein". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 12 April 2017. ISSN   0174-4909 . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "Borussia Dortmund: German police call bombing suspect 'Isis member' as they issue arrest warrant". The Independent. 13 April 2017.
  27. ↑ "'Isil terrorist' suspect held in connection with Borussia Dortmund bombing". The Telegraph. 13 April 2017.
  28. ↑ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (13 April 2017). "Nach Anschlag in Dortmund: Haftbefehl gegen Verdächtigen erlassen - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 13 April 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ Phippen, J. Weston (22 April 2017). "The Banality of the Attack on the Borussia Dortmund Bus". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  30. 1 2 3 Rowlands, Neil (5 September 2018). "Borussia Dortmund bus bomber's amazing confession in German court". Irish Mirror . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  31. ↑ "Footballer feared for life in bus attack". 29 January 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  32. 1 2 "Prosecutors demand life for Dortmund bus bomber". www.thelocal.de. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  33. ↑ "Borussia Dortmund bus bomber sentenced to 14 years in prison". The Independent. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  34. ↑ "UEFA statement on Dortmund incident". UEFA. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  35. ↑ "Tuchel slams UEFA over rescheduled game". ESPN.com. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  36. ↑ "Episode 4". Inside Borussia Dortmund. Amazon Studios. 2019. 13 minutes in.
  37. ↑ Bristow, Thomas (13 April 2017). "Borussia Dortmund and Monaco fans unite to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone"". mirror. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  38. ↑ Sharwood, Anthony (12 April 2017). "German Football Fans Show French Rivals Amazing Hospitality After Borussia Dortmund Bus Explosion". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  39. ↑ "Explosion in Dortmund: Bestürzung und Anteilnahme für den BVB". Die Zeit. 12 April 2017. ISSN   0044-2070 . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  40. ↑ Tuchel und Matthäus kritisieren Uefa hart [ permanent dead link ]; released on 12 April 2017; NTV
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