We're living in bizarre times when Germany can't do the most basic, harmless German cultural things because of bomb threats.
This time, it's Munich closing the city's Oktoberfest because someone threatened to blow it up. Oh, and there actually was an explosion.
From the AP:
German police closed the Oktoberfest fairgrounds and fanned out with sniffer dogs on Wednesday following a bomb threat from the suspected perpetrator of an explosion in northern Munich, authorities said.
Police in Bavaria, the state where Munich is located, said the suspect was believed to be a 57-year-old German citizen who, according to preliminary findings, had committed suicide near a lake in northern Munich.
The AP is also reporting that the explosion in Munich may have been because of a domestic issue with this man's family, as the unidentified suspect's mother and daughter were both hospitalized after the bombing.
The suspect hasn't been named yet, and we obviously can't rule out "random nut case," however, recent history has a particular demographic involved in stabbings, bombings, and other violent acts.
The Associated Press, however, doesn't mention any of these attacks that took place in the last two years to give context for today's story; instead, it referenced a 45-year-old incident involving a neo-Nazi.
In 1980, Oktoberfest was the target of a deadly neo-Nazi attack. The bombing on the evening of Sept. 26, 1980, claimed 13 lives, including that of three children and the attacker, student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of a banned far-right group. More than 200 people were wounded.
I mean, if this turns out to be a Neo-Nazi and not an Islamist, I'll give the AP their flowers.
In the meantime, police are investigating. All nearby festivals are closed until the bomb sweep is completed.
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