Germany investigates 19 people for New Year’s Eve assaults, many are migrants

World Today

German officials say at least 19 people are under investigation for the assaults on revelers at New Year’s eve festivities in Cologne. The majority are recent arrivals from North Africa and the Middle East.

CCTV America’s Roee Ruttenberg reports.

More than 500 criminal complaints have now been filed with Cologne police, all of them from events on New Year’s Eve, near the city’s main cathedral. Nearly half relate to sexual assault, and at least 2 involve rape.

As Europe’s largest nation, Germany took in more than a million migrants last year. Revelations that some of them may have been involved in recent assaults prompted anti-migrants protests over the weekend. Police had to use water cannons to disperse one of the demonstrations.

“The German government rejects any case of violence against refugees or asylum seekers. We continue to have discussions about the possible criminal and political consequences from the intolerable crimes during New Year’s in Cologne. But nothing excuses those sorts of responses,” German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

However, a third of Germans now say their views on foreigners have worsened since the alleged assaults, according to a new survey.