About a week after an attack on a 57-year-old trans woman in a Bremen tram, the police identified four suspects between the ages of twelve and 13. The police in the Hanseatic city announced on Tuesday that they had been identified as suspected members of the group of perpetrators on the basis of video recordings. The 57-year-old was severely insulted by around 15 young people and injured by a punch from one of the group.
According to the police, a patrol car crew first recognized one of the suspects during another operation on Sunday evening in the Huchting district and subsequently became aware of nine other children and young people. The investigators had secured recordings from the surveillance cameras and then distributed internal police photos of suspects.
Accordingly, all ten children and young people were taken to the station, while their parents were notified. There, four 12- and 13-year-olds were identified by further criminal police measures based on the video recordings, the police said.
The transidentical 57-year-old was attacked and roughly insulted by a larger group of young people while riding a tram in early September. Among other things, young people tore her wig off her head, and one of those involved hit the victim several times in the face with his fist. The woman was seriously injured and had to be taken to a hospital. The group fled when other passengers intervened.
The investigation into those involved in the crime is ongoing, the police said. In principle, the suspects would not yet be of criminal age in the criminal sense. The limit for this in Germany is 14 years.
State security is investigating hate crime and dangerous bodily harm. Trans people are people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
Just a few days before the incident in Bremen, a 25-year-old died in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, after an attack at a Christopher Street Day (CSD) event. According to the police, he had put himself in front of participants who were homophobically insulted by a 20-year-old. The 20-year-old hit him several times in the face, after which he fell. He died later in hospital. The alleged attacker is in custody.
In particular, the crime in Münster caused horror. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced stricter action against anti-queer violence in Germany. Among other things, she made a more precise recording of the police statistics. A large dark field can be assumed.