Abdul Ballout pledged allegiance to ISIL in video found after lethal Berlin Pride attack
German authorities confirmed that Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, pledged allegiance to the ISIL armed group in a video found on his vehicle. The suspect was shot dead by police on Sunday after driving a van into a crowd during the Berlin Pride festival on Saturday. The attack resulted in the death of a 65-year-old Polish woman and left 29 people injured. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt identified Ballout as the suspect, noting that investigators found links to ISIL on data storage devices in his home. Ballout had previously been convicted of planning a serious act of subversive violence and had been sentenced to three months in jail in Lebanon for belonging to ISIL. Following the attack, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and governing mayor Kai Wegner described the incident as a heinous act and an attack on a free society. Despite the mourning, Syrian belly dancer Haidar Darwish performed on Sunday night to show resilience within the LGBTQ+ community.