German security services reveal solingen islamist was radicalized “long before” entering the country
Issa al Hasan, the 26-year-old Syrian who murdered three people during a municipal festival in Solingen in August 2024, was already an Islamist before setting foot in Germany, according to Der Spiegel. The attacker, who entered the country illegally in December 2022, had been consuming jihadist Salafist propaganda since at least 2019 and searched online for Islamic State content before crossing the border.
German security services have discovered that Al Hasan had been radicalized “long before” entering Germany. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office states that the war in Gaza further intensified his fanaticism from October 2023 onwards, but the attacker’s digital trail dates back years. As early as 2020, he was already looking for Islamic State combat songs, and in June 2024, just weeks before the attack, he searched for the term “kill the infidel.”
That same month, he joined a jihadist chat group led by a figure known as “Abu Faruq,” identified by authorities as a recruiter of suicide bombers in Europe. According to the investigation, Al Hasan contacted him in the days leading up to the festival and even received advice on what kind of knife to use.
The Attacker’s Profile: Islamist, Illegal, and Not Deported
Al Hasan arrived in Germany after being previously registered in Bulgaria, where he entered with the help of human traffickers. Although German authorities attempted to return him to Bulgaria under the Dublin procedure, the attacker managed to evade deportation by going into hiding. Nevertheless, he was neither expelled nor effectively monitored, reigniting the debate over the structural failure of Germany’s migration system.
The attack occurred on the night of August 23, 2024, during a local celebration. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Al Hasan stabbed his victims in the back, neck, and torso with extreme violence. The result: three dead and several seriously injured.
Although the accused denies any ties to the Islamic State, claiming to have been manipulated and to suffer from a mental disorder, investigators have found no clinical evidence to support this. He said he was “horrified” by the sight of people celebrating while the Palestinian people suffered, and even claimed to have believed he saw an “Israeli soldier” among the stage musicians.
The trial against Al Hasan is set to begin on May 27 at the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. He is charged with triple murder, ten attempted murders, and membership in a foreign terrorist organization. The court has scheduled 22 sessions for the proceedings.
The case has become a symbol of the migration chaos in Germany: an Islamist with a radical background who evades deportation and ends up killing civilians at a public celebration — all under a system that neither detects, deports, nor protects.
