Refugee Rape Mobs on New Year's Eve Were a Hoax, Say German Police

Reports of mass New Year's Eve sexual-assaults by refugees in Frankfurt, Germany, are "completely baseless."

SKA/HSS/AEDT/WENN/Newscom

According to German tabloid Bild, a "rioting sex mob"—composed largely of Arab refugees—wreaked havoc on the city of Frankfurt during this year's New Year's Eve celebrations, groping and sexually assaulting dozens of women. The story quickly made an international splash. Now police say it's "completely baseless," an invention of Frankfurt restaurant owner Jan May and a woman identified as Irina A.

The original report claimed that at least 50 men, mostly thought to be refugees from Middle Hessia, overtook May's restaurant and others in a shopping area of Frankfurt known as the Fressgass. The men allegedly began robbing patrons, reaching under women's skirts, and worse in a sexual-assault free-for-all.

On Tuesday, Frankfurt police confirmed to the Frankfurter Rundschau that Irina had not even been present in Frankfurt on New Year's Eve. And interrogations of other witnesses led police to doubt the story in its entirety. They now believe the accusations were "without foundation" and "there were no… attacks by masses of refugees."

"Masses of refugees were not responsible for any sexual assaults in the Fressgass over New Year," police said, according to English-language Euro paper The Local. "The accusations are completely baseless." May and Irina are currently under investigation by police for making up the incidents, the paper says.

Meanwhile, Bild—a publication accused by Germany's left of routinely stoking anti-immigrant sentiment—published a statement on its website Tuesday saying the paper "apologizes expressly for the untruthful article and the accusations made in it. This article in no way met the journalistic standards of Bild." On Twitter, Bild Editor-in-Chief Julian Reichelt apologized and said there would be consequences at the paper.

Comments

[John Titor]

According to German tabloid Bild, a "rioting sex mob"

Well way to make it sound fun, Bild.

[Cynical Asshole]

"rioting sex mob"

Good band name.

[WakaWaka]

You wrote 'this year'. The original story I read was from two years ago. Was the one from two years ago false too or just this year's? Or were they both false?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic.....rants.html

[Mr. Flanders]

There are videos, one of the victim was a journalist too.

[Cynical Asshole]

I'm pretty sure the story from 2 years ago is confirmed and true. "This year" or "this New Year's Eve" to me implies that this supposedly happened on December 31, 2016.

What I can't figure out though is why a restaurant owner would make up a story about a mob of "at least 50 men" coming into his restaurant and sexually assaulting and robbing his patrons. Seems like something like that getting out would be bad for business and wouldn't be something that he would want to be widely publicized.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

I still believe it.

[DenverJ]

+1 alternative facts

[american socialist]

I didnt even hear about this (fake) story until reason mentioned it today

[Fist of Etiquette]

Looks like someone got a phone call.

[Rhywun]

The story quickly made an international splash.

First I'm hearing of it.

[WakaWaka]

She's purposely conflating the actual attack that occurred two years ago with the false one that occurred this past year

[lap83]

Unless it's just laziness, either way she needs to clarify

[Bill Dalasio]

I'm not sure if it's purposeful. But, it is confusing.

[WakaWaka]

You're right. I shouldn't have written purposely.

[Mr. Flanders]

I think its just an oversight/laziness. I was surprised not to see the article mention the actual attack that happened two years ago, at least to differentiate this fake story from the actual incidence that happened to be similar.

[WakaWaka]

That's true. We shouldn't expect her to retread a different story. I just thought it was confusing when I first read it

[commodious rebrands]

during this year's New Year's Eve

Technically incorrect, but not much.

[Cynical Asshole]

She's purposely conflating the actual attack that occurred two years ago with the false one that occurred this past year

I don't think so. She says "this year's New Year's Eve" which I would have assumed most people would interpret as being December 31, 2016. Perhaps she should have stated the specific date instead, but I don't see any deliberate attempt to conflate the two here. I guess anyone can see deliberate malfeasance in any story if they look hard enough.

[Zeb]

I guess anyone can see deliberate malfeasance in any story if they look hard enough.

And a number of commenters here apparently take that as a personal challenge.

[Microaggressor]

The thing is, I wasn't even aware there were allegations in 2016. So I assumed she was talking about the 2015 incident. Since I was reading the story quickly and not picking apart every detail, and my memory of those details from the previous incident are fuzzy, that was the conclusion I came to until I opened the comments. If I didn't open the comments, I would thus believe the 2015 Cologne attacks were made up.

How many other people did too?

The hallmark of MSM fake news is being technically correct, while misleading readers so that the majority come out believing things that are technically incorrect. I'm just wondering, how far does this fall on the spectrum? ENB could have written a single sentence for clarity but chose not to, and that's not to say it's deliberate, but an oversight with far reaching effect. And how big of a difference would that have made to the average reader interpretation?

[GILMORE?]

The story quickly made an international splash.

First I'm hearing of it.

Me too. It seems odd to need to "debunk" an event no one in America has ever heard about before.

A quick Google search for "news years eve sexual assaults" limited to the first week of this year.... the stories i see most widely reported happened in Austria: BBC + Reuters covered them, as did a few US news outlets (Time, IBT)....

Strangely, the story far more covered in US news (NYT, CNN, USA Today) happened in Bangalore, India, and from what i can tell was also later determined a hoax.

I don't see a single mention of any "Frankfurt" assaults by anyone - either in European or US media - mentioned in that first week in 2017

[GILMORE?]

*every one of those stories also references the 2016 assaults in Cologne the prior year. For clarity, i assume.

[GILMORE?]

Searching specifically for "Frankfurt sexual assault" during the same period (first 2 weeks of 2017) still finds nothing in any English-language news sources.

Instead, you get more reports of incidents elsewhere; e.g.

- teens molested in Dresden, Germany;
- The (always dubious) UK Sun claiming attacks in Hamburg, elsewhere (the Express reports the same)
- a very widely reported story about a "mob of migrant men burning down germany's oldest church"... which was a ridiculous exaggeration of some people shooting off fireworks, and immediately debunked in US press.

but i still don't see any "international splash" about New Years sex-mobs in Frankfurt

[Microaggressor]

The only story that made an "international splash" were the 2015 Cologne attacks. ENB should remove that sentence and clarify if she doesn't want to appear to be deliberately conflating the two.

[GILMORE?]

(shrug) i wouldn't hold your breath.

I think what's actually more interesting about the issue is that there were multiple other stories that WERE reported in the UK/EU media (both exaggerated and real) during the same period, but which were mostly ignored in the US press

meaning, there's substantially less frothing-hype about "Euro Refugee Rape Gangs!" in the media now than there was in the aftermath of the Cologne attacks, even considering that there were a few substantiated examples of similar events. (e.g. Dresden, Hamburg, etc)

I mean, if FOX is downplaying stories about muslims burning down churches.... i think 'right-wing media hoaxes' are probably losing popularity.

[DenverJ]

Nick Cannon "white people so racist! What? It's a joke meant to bring us all together! Man, America's Got Talent No Sense of Humour, amiright?"

[Propaganda Czar]

So how does this discredit leaked internal docs and the many independent claims of sexaul assaults by refugees?

This is one discredited report for a specific town in Germany. It's hardly worthy of the headline written.

[Cynical Asshole]

The wikipedia article is talking about the 2015/ 2016 New Year's Eve assaults. Apparently this is something that supposedly happened "this New Year's Eve". As in 2016/ 2017. That does seem to be causing a lot of confusion. Perhaps ENB should update the post to clarify.

[Ken Shultz]

Are we talking about New Year's 2016 or New Year's 2017?

ENB's post doesn't say--but it should.

[Cynical Asshole]

"This year's New Year's Eve" as in 2017, I think. Covered ad-nauseum up-thread.

[Zeb]

Unless she has a time machine and is reporting on what will happen at the end of this year, it's pretty damn obvious, I would have thought.

[Zeb]

Not sure why this is causing so much confusion. It is very unlikely that "this new years eve" refers to 31 December 2017, so it is pretty easy to conclude that it refers to the most recent one.

[Hyperion]

Consider that German police are taking their marching orders from Angela Merkel and she has an interest in protecting her decision to allow 1 million refugees into the country. For what it's worth.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Taggart: We'll work up a number 6 on 'em.

Hedey Lamarr: A number 6? I'm not familar with that one.

Taggart: Well that's when we ride on in to town a whoopin' and a hollarin' and beating every single thing to within an inch of its life. 'Cept the women, of course.

Hedey Lamarr: You spare the women?

Taggart: Naw, we rape the shit out of them at the Number 6 Dance later on!

[Agile Cyborg]

A peculiar screed considering not one of the accused suffered injustice or reprisal as a result of said rumor.

I guess one could presume some microscopic local recoil about migrant Islamic mobs bothering vulnerable ladies, but that concept doesn't have to be rumored- it exists as truth in all Muslim countries where women are placed on the same level as dogs and atheists.

ENB, I understand wool mittens, wrought iron, and vintage hats aren't free but jesus z christ...

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I'm familiar with the Cologne assault story. Hadn't even heard of this one. As fraudulent stories of all kinds are fairly common and hardly newsworthy, what about this one makes it worth posting as news?

Because unless this fraudulent story should also impact how we see the Cologne reportage or other confirmed stories of refugee misbehavior (and I don't see why it should), I don't see the point.

[Free Society]

Anyone notice how Reason jumps on this story when it proves false, but they didn't bother reporting on the sex assaults in the 15/16 New Years until quite some time after the event had already been widely reported on everywhere else.

refugees from Middle Hessia

That's where these "refugees" are "from" huh?

[MarkLastname]

Trumpertarians: "fake but accurate!"

[Bacon-Magic <3 Hayek]

ENB, please clarify this article.

[Microaggressor]

At the very least, remove the sentence "The story quickly made an international splash" which has been shown to be false and only serves to further conflate the stories.

[LoneWaco]

it turns out the japs didn't attack pearl harbor on dec 7th.

in 1942.

[Bacon-Magic <3 Hayek]

Still no clarification? ENB is usually on top of her game...

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I always believed it was a hoax until the government told me it was a hoax.

[Bacon-Magic <3 Hayek]

This article still needs an update.

[Sevens]

Two different events, two different years. The one in Cologne (2015/2016) was the big one, and remains true. The one in Frankfurt (2016/2017) was not said to be of anywhere near the same scale, and appears to be debunked, now.

[wingnutx]

The police would never lie to you.

[Bacon-Magic <3 Hayek]

This article still needs clarification. Don't be a hack.

[vek]

No clue on this particular incident, which I haven't even heard about. But I agree with the comment above about WHY would a restaurant owner make up a story about incidents at his place? Doesn't seem good for business. So it makes one wonder why he would say it, and also how there are multiple other witnesses, all to be disbelieved. He concocts a plan to make his business sound like a rape cage, and then convinces multiple other patrons to all go along with his story??? Doesn't make sense.

ALSO on this issue, I honestly am going to (generally speaking) have to side with the general public on their accounts of stuff like this happening over and above what an official government spokesman/employee says on the subject. The governments in Germany/Sweden etc are in SERIOUS damage control mode and have been caught red handed trying to manipulate and downplay the number of incidents. Obviously not every incident reported by people will be true, or as severe as it was reported, but citizens have less reason to make this stuff up than governments do to cover them up. Benefit of the doubt goes to the normal man on the street in this instance for me.