Hamburg Pride march draws 300,000 after Berlin attack
About 300,000 people took part in a Pride march in Hamburg on Saturday, police and organisers said, one week after an attack near a similar parade in Berlin killed one person and injured 31 others.
An AFP photographer saw people waving rainbow flags and travelling on foot and on floats through the northern German city. Some placards called for solidarity among LGBT people and a future without fear.
Police were deployed in force after the Berlin incident. A 65-year-old Polish woman was killed there, and 31 other people were injured.
The alleged attacker, 21-year-old Abdul Rahman Ballout, was shot dead by police, who said he had run at them with a bladed weapon. He had reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in a video. AFP reported that Ballout was a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was known to the criminal justice system and had travelled to Lebanon last year in a failed attempt to fight for IS.
Uncertainty notes
The report does not state whether authorities identified any specific threat to the Hamburg march.
The allegation that Ballout pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group is reported, not independently established in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .