"Day of the kippah" on Thursday Four police officers relocated after incident involving Israeli professor
BONN · Four police officers have now been transferred following the attack on a visiting Israeli professor at the Hofgarten. Meanwhile, a university student has come forth, alleging brutal conduct from police officers who broke up a party at his apartment.
Bonn police have now transferred all four officers who were involved in the incident with Israeli guest professor Yitzhak Melamed. Last Wednesday afternoon, police officers were called to the Hofgarten (park at the University of Bonn) after an anti-Semitic attack on the professor. The officers, all between 25 and 28 years-old, apparently confused the victim with the perpetrator. At least one of the officers lunged at the professor, who had been chasing the 20-year-old suspect, and held him down, hitting him in the face. The officers themselves confirmed this. Bonn prosecutors are now investigating the exact sequence of events. Cologne police are investigating the four police officers on possible assault charges.
Melamed raised serious allegations against the Bonn police and contradicts their description that says he resisted arrest. He said he received a dozen punches, and at the police station, they tried to talk him out of filing a complaint. This has also led to an investigation on possible obstruction of justice.
Meanwhile, a university student contacted GA on Tuesday, describing what he viewed as harsh tactics by the police at a party at his apartment. The incident is said to have taken place on December 1 of last year and is known to police, according to spokesman Frank Piontek. Prosectors will investigate. Yannik Börgener, 24-year-old host of the party in Tannenbusch, describes how two policemen broke up the party after a neighbor complained about the noise. He said they entered the apartment against his will, because party guests were whistling on the balcony. Guests were sent home without jackets in wintry temperatures.
Börgener accuses the police of proceeding against him in an “extremely brutal” fashion, pushing him without warning onto a sofa, pushing him several times against the wall and handcuffing him. A criminal complaint against police was not filed because an internal investigation was promised at the police station. The case of Melamed has now compelled those involved in the busted party to file a criminal complaint retroactively. "The Bonn police do not have an anti-Semitism problem, but the Bonn police definitely have a structural problem," finds Börgener and 14 party guests who have written an open letter to the chief of police.
Because of the anti-Semitic attack by the 20-year-old suspect who verbally assaulted, pushed and hit the professor repeatedly on his kippah, the City of Bonn and the Jewish community are planning a “Day of the kippah” for this Thursday at 3pm. It will take place at the Marktplatz in Bonn city center. Men are asked to come with kippah, the religious head covering worn by men in traditional Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Bonn will provide 250 caps to those who would like to participate.
(Orig. text: Philipp Königs, Translation: ck)
