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An American tourist was reportedly stabbed in the face by a Syrian asylum seeker in Germany while protecting two women being harassed on a tram.
John Rudat, 21, was traveling in Dresden early Sunday when he stepped in as the women were being attacked by a pair of Syrian men, according to an online fundraiser set up by his brother’s girlfriend, Molly.
Rudat, who recently qualified as a paramedic and also works as a part-time model, sustained a facial wound from a six-inch blade, the fundraiser states.
“This horrible act against John leaves us devastated and seeking justice,” it said. “He now faces a challenging recovery—physically, emotionally, and even financially—as he works to heal from this incident.”
Authorities arrested a 21-year-old Syrian on suspicion of beating Rudat, who was staying in Dresden with his former foreign exchange host family, before the stabbing, but he was later released, the German outlet Bild reported, according to the New York Post.
“According to the on-call public prosecutor’s assessment, there were insufficient grounds for detention. The knife attack cannot be attributed to him,” Senior Public Prosecutor Jürgen Schmidt told Bild.
The stabbing left Rudat, who is from upstate New York, bloody and covered in bandages. He later went on Instagram, where he criticized Europe’s immigration policies.
“It is 11:57 a.m. right now. In three minutes, that man who assaulted that young woman will be released from custody. He’ll be released from custody because he’s not a citizen of Germany; he’s not a citizen of the EU for that matter,” Rudat said.
“He’s an immigrant, an illegal one, a drug dealer, and very popularly known here, especially by the police,” he added. “This is not the first time this has happened. It’s not the first time that man has beaten up women, and it’s not the first time that the other guy decided to take a swing at my face with a six-inch blade.”
“If they could do this to the people of Germany and then just get released 12 hours later, even less at this point, where is the law? Where is the structure?” he asked. “If Germans are held to that law and that structure, but these people can just come in, swing knives, and hurt, abuse, terrorize, and oppress citizens of Germany, then what do we do?”
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin condemned the attack.
“While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked,” the embassy wrote on X. “We urge German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law. Safety is a collective responsibility—no one is safe until all are safe.”
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