"He was known to police": Who was Berlin's Pride Festival attacker?

Police officers with automatic weapons stand in an allotment complex in the western Spandau district of Berlin on July 26, 2026. [AFP]

Authorities in Berlin have recovered a video from the phone of the suspected attacker in which  he claims responsibility for the weekend assault at a Pride festival.

A spokesperson for the German Federal Prosecutor's Office told Tagesspiegel that the man, identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, claimed responsibility for the attack in a video believed to have been recorded Saturday, the day the attack took place.

In the recording, the office said, he speaks in Arabic, claiming the assault in Berlin's Tiergarten park on behalf of the Islamic State (IS).

German media outlets have reported separately that the footage shows a masked man, believed to be Ballout, pledging allegiance to the terrorist organisation.

Citing police sources, Bild newspaper further reported that investigators found the suspect's phone inside a minivan that the attacker allegedly drove into a crowd of Christopher Street Day festival-goers on Saturday. A machete was also recovered nearby that police believe was used to attack more victims at the scene.

As of Tuesday, July 28, one person had died in the attack and 29 others were injured. Police shot and killed Ballout shortly following the attack.

Speaking on Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the attack, saying, "We will do everything to protect the freedom of our country and our society," he said. "Everything!"

But who was the suspect?

Ballout, born in Berlin to a Lebanese mother, was no stranger to German authorities before the attack.

In May, a court convicted him on charges related to an attempt to join the Islamic State in Syria. Court records show that in 2025, he twice tried, unsuccessfully, to reach Syria through Turkey and Lebanon to join the group.

He was deported to Germany the following November, where he faced charges of preparing a serious act of violence.

At the time of Saturday's attack, Ballout was free but remained under police surveillance, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Authorities had reportedly been tracking his movements, including installing surveillance cameras outside his residence and monitoring his phone.

It remains unclear how he managed to escape the scene undetected and make his way across Spandau, in western Berlin.

The attack has since prompted renewed debate in Germany over whether the court's earlier decision to release Ballout was too lenient, and whether Saturday's violence could have been prevented.