The alleged racist attack on two girls from Ghana in Grevesmühlen is now different from what was initially described. After evaluating video recordings, the Rostock Police Headquarters announced on Monday evening: “According to the current status of the investigation, the eight-year-old girl did not suffer any physical injuries that would indicate the crime described in the initial report.”
The police initially reported that the sisters had been attacked, and that the younger one had been kicked in the face, among other things. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD) responded on Saturday: “You don’t attack people, especially not children, and certainly not for racist reasons.”
The child had been out and about in the Mecklenburg town with her ten-year-old sister on Friday evening. Investigators announced on Monday evening that, according to the current state of the investigation, the eight-year-old wanted to ride past a teenager on her scooter. “The teenager apparently blocked the girl’s path with his outstretched leg and hit her with the tip of his foot.”
At that time, a large group of young people were in the area. The children then turned to their parents, frightened and crying.
The parents wanted to confront the teenagers, the police said. This led to verbal and physical altercations. “Xenophobic insults were also expressed.” The police initially reported that the eight-year-old child and the father were slightly injured. A police spokeswoman now said that the girl was physically unharmed and that the information about the father had not changed. The father was slightly injured and was briefly taken to hospital.
The ten-person investigative team, led by the police’s state security department responsible for political crimes, had asked the public for information. The police then received photos and video recordings, among other things. The investigation is ongoing, it was said.
The investigators asked for further information from the public. A tip portal has been set up on the Internet for this purpose, it was said. It can be found at the link mv.hinweisportal.de. Witnesses can also contact the criminal investigation department in Wismar on 03841-203156 or any other police station.
The victims are two girls from the Blau-Weiß Grevesmühlen sports club. “This escalation is simply disgusting and shocks us all,” said the chairman of the sports club, Daniel Voigt, to the “Ostsee Zeitung”. “I have known the two girls who were victims there for a long time. They dance with us and have been here for many years.” They are fully integrated and “speak fluent German”. Voigt demands: “In my opinion, the perpetrators, some of whom also belong to sports clubs, must be excluded. Zero tolerance for racism and violence.”
The girls’ father told Bild that he and his family did not want to be driven out of the city. “We have lived in Grevesmühlen since 2016, we are staying here,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
