# 2025 Munich car attack

On 13 February 2025, a Mini Cooper was driven into protesters at a demonstration organized by the trade union ver.di in Munich, Germany. 39 people were injured in the attack, 2 of which later succumbed to their wounds. The suspect, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant and asylum seeker, was arrested shortly afterward.

## Attack

At approximately 10:30 am local time, a driver in a white Mini Cooper approached a police vehicle monitoring the end of a march organized by the ver.di services trade union with 1,500 participants near Munich's central train station. The driver maneuvered around the police vehicle and accelerated into the crowd of marching people. Police fired one shot while they apprehended the attacker.
At least 37 people were injured, including several children, according to Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter at least eighteen seriously. One child was resuscitated on site. A 37-year-old Algerian-born woman and her two-year-old daughter died from their injuries in hospital two days after the attack.

## Suspect

The suspected driver was a 24-year-old Afghan national Farhad Noori. Noori was born in Kabul in January 2001 and moved to Germany at the end of 2016 after spending time in Italy. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees rejected his asylum application, but he was granted a temporary residence permit. As a result, Noori became an unaccompanied minor and was taken into care by a German youth welfare facility. In September 2017, his asylum application was rejected by German authorities. He appealed the decision unsuccessfully.
The city of Munich issued a toleration notice (Duldungsbescheid) in April 2021 and a residence permit in October 2021. Noori attended school and did a job training. Noori did extensive bodybuilding in his free time and also successfully took part in a bodybuilding championship. He had accounts on several social networks, which have since been blocked or deleted. On TikTok alone, Noori who presented himself as a fitness influencer, was followed by more than 32,000 people. Noori published videos with Islamic content, but also numerous videos that seem hardly compatible with a strict Islamist ideology, for example because music is used in them . He was detained at the scene.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) incorrectly stated that Noori had committed theft and narcotics-related criminal offenses and had been subject to deportation and later acknowledged his error, saying that Noori had neither been convicted of any crime nor was he in Germany illegally. Noori reportedly had a residence and work permit from the city of Munich, and the Munich police announced that he was known to them for testifying as a witness while employed as a store detective while working for two companies.
ARD Tagesschau reported that, while German authorities had not previously identified Noori as a political or religious extremist, he was reported to have recently posted "Islamist" material on social media.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, although the perpetrator shouted "Allah Akbar," or "God is great," in Arabic to police officers after the incident, prosecutors said. Interior Minister Herrmann speculated that the perpetrator probably spotted the demonstration march by chance.

## Reactions

Ver.di chairman Frank Werneke expressed his concern and sorrow. He said that the unions stood in solidarity. Bavarian Premier Markus Söder (CSU) said the incident was suspected to be a terrorist attack. Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) expressed shock and concern for the victims.
The attack occurred one day before the start of the Munich Security Conference, an event attracting international figures such as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The third attack in three months by a person who had applied for asylum in Germany, it intensified political debates on immigration and public safety, already important topics in the upcoming federal elections.