Berlin Pride attack suspect raised red flags, group says, amid questions about early release from prison despite ISIS ties

The suspect e Berlin LGBTQ+ Pride Attackofficials said was known to have ties to ISIS, was about to be removed from a deradicalization program after staff saw red flags, one of the program's leaders told CBS News on Monday.

Officials said Abdul Ballout, 21, a German citizen of Lebanese origin, washed the car of those celebrating Europe's largest Pride event on Saturday night before slashing others with a machete. One woman was killed, and 29 others were injured in the attack.

Ballout was shot and killed in a suburb of Berlin on Sunday during a confrontation with police, ending a 24-hour manhunt.

He was recently sent to a deradicalization program for testing, but the group said it plans to tell authorities that his cooperation appears to be “false.”

“Why didn't the authorities start this process earlier? He was known to be a radical for a long time,” said Cornelia Lotthammer, the organization's communications director, in an interview with CBS News.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday told the media that he wanted to know how the attack could have been prevented.

“We must do everything to protect the people of Germany as much as possible from criminals like these, from dangerous people who can be arrested for whatever reason,” he said.

Police say they believe Ballout rented the car used in the incident.

The woman who died in the incident is from Poland, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw on Monday.

The suspect is related to the Muslim religion

Authorities said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother was born in 2002, three years before he was born. They also said Ballout was known to the police after several incidents, including after 2019 when he was found guilty of assaulting a victim in the schoolyard of a Berlin high school. Two years later, in 2022, Ballout was also convicted in juvenile court of assault and robbery with intent to rob.

However, the first signs of extremism were in 2024 when Ballout shared two ISIS propaganda posts on his Instagram page, according to information provided to CBS News by Berlin prosecutors.

The following year, he traveled to Lebanon “with the intention of going from there to Syria to join ISIS,” the prosecutor's office said. However, Ballout was arrested and imprisoned in Lebanon. He returned to Germany in November 2025 after serving his sentence and was arrested at Berlin airport.

In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of “preparing a heinous act of violence,” publishing ISIS propaganda on Instagram and other charges, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to one year and ten months in prison.

Despite an appeal, Ballout was given a suspended sentence, in light of the time he spent in prison in Lebanon and pretrial detention, and because he pleaded guilty and distanced himself from ISIS, prosecutors said.

Separately, on July 3, a little more than three weeks before Saturday's attack, police searched Ballout's home in Berlin-Schöneberg, prompted by suspected violations of Germany's Weapons Law, according to information provided by Berlin prosecutors to CBS News. They left after a toy gun was found during a search and the case was dismissed.

Intelligence sources told CBS News that preliminary information does not suggest a connection between the suspected attacker and the United States.

The Deradicalization program saw red flags

After his release, the court ordered Ballout to attend a program of economic mitigation for high-risk innocents. He has been screened twice by the Berlin-based Violence Prevention Network, which works with people at risk of right-wing extremism and Islamism. The third and final inspection was scheduled for Monday.

Cornelisa Lotthammer, the agency's director of communications, told CBS News on Monday that the staff had a “strong opinion” that Ballout was not a good fit for their program because he had “a strong opinion and a long time.”

He said staff determined there was “false cooperation” from Ballout during the screening.

“Our colleagues could see that he was not interested in the actual deradicalization process,” Lotthammer said.

“He gave the answers they wanted to hear. However, our colleagues saw this,” he said, adding, “One red flag is when you realize the answers are the answers he thinks he wants to hear.”

Ballout showed no signs that he was planning an imminent attack, Lotthammer said, adding that if the crew had had signs of danger, they would have called the police.

He refused to comment on who is responsible for the suspect's release, saying that this is a question for the authorities.

“We did what we had to do,” Lotthammer said.

He explained that this group works with people who have separated themselves from extreme views and started to “think. [for] themselves.” “We help them with an apartment and a job. We have to make sure that this person is fully integrated into society,” he said.

He also pushed back against criticism of such efforts to discredit, saying that many people he worked with did nothing after the attack.

“They also count,” he added.

Berlin is breaking away from violence

The attack happened a few hundred yards from the Brandenburg Gate during a celebration that was supposed to close the city's pride festival.

A few hours later, hundreds of mourners gathered at a makeshift memorial at the statue's gate. They hug and put down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs.

“This is not normal; they're just people; they shouldn't be judged or killed for their love,” one woman at the memorial told CBS News on Monday.

“It's not normal for someone we know to be dangerous; we don't do anything about it… of course, I'm crazy,” added another mourner.

Julian Miething, who attended the event, told the AP on Sunday that it was “a dark day for the community.”

Increased ramming attacks

The attack is the latest in a series that has left the country facing public safety concerns.

Six people died and hundreds were injured when the car crashed Christmas market in Magdeburg in December 2024. Two months later, a car arrived union representatives in Munich, a woman and her two-year-old daughter died. Two more people were killed in March 2025 when a the car drove into the crowd in Mannheim.

The attacks have different alleged motives, but they are not together immigration, security and extremism at the center of German politics. These debates also mobilized support for the opposition Another German partyor AfD, and put pressure on Merz and Germany's main political parties as they try to convince voters they can keep the country safe.