Police in Cologne have "no leads" on the perpetrators behind dozens of sex attacks committed against women in the western cathedral city on New Year's Eve, officials said at a press conference on Tuesday."At the moment we have no leads about the perpetrators," city police chief Wolfgang Albers told journalists in a joint press conference with recently-elected mayor Henriette Reker.
But he and Reker were able to clear up some details which had become muddled in the wake of the huge amount of media attention to the attacks – attention that first began on Monday, or several days after the attacks.
Police explained that a large group of 400-600
| You were expecting 'refugees' to be doing something else, like attending to their families or looking for work? |
By 1am, the police commander on the ground had received several reports of sexual attacks on women. He ordered all the officers in the area to gather around the station to warn, escort and protect women into the station, while federal officers did the same inside the station.
| Notice that he didn't issue any orders to arrest anyone... |
"There were not 1,000 perpetrators," he said, but rather a gathering of people among whom were the perpetrators – although he could not say on Tuesday how many people were responsible.
| Nor is he ever going to find out... |
Questions remain about how to prevent the same thing from happening again at large events, particularly the traditional high points of carnival season in early February.
| I can think of a couple things the police and politicians could do... |
Cologne must remain a city "in which anyone can celebrate", Reker said.
Reker insisted that there was "no evidence that we are dealing with people who have received accommodation here in Cologne as refugees."
| Reker didn't look, either... |
| You could ask the wimmin to wear burqas and to be escorted by their brothers... |
| The best behavior manual would be a knife in the ribs to each perpetrator... |