Terrorism trial starts against suspect in Rotterdam bridge knife attack; One killed

The trial against Ayoub M. from Amersfoort, the man suspected of a fatal knife attack at Ersasmus Bridge in Rotterdam in September last year, starts in the high-security courtroom at Schiphol Airport on Monday. The now 23-year-old man is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, and threats with a terrorist motive.

M. attacked and stabbed two random people at the Erasmus Bridge on September 19, 2024. A 32-year-old man from Germany was killed, and a 33-year-old man from Switzerland was seriously injured. According to witnesses, M shouted "Allahu akbar,” which means God is great in Arabic, multiple times during the attack.

M. does not deny committing the attacks, but says he did so in a psychotic, not radicalized state.

The Amersfoort man was already in contact with the authorities before the knife attack. In February 2022, he attacked his mother with a knife, for which he was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment (TBS). A few days before that incident, he attacked an enforcement officer. A police dog was eventually deployed to subdue him.

At the time of the knife attack in Rotterdam, M. was under supervision and receiving treatment. Investigators from the Inspectorates for Justice and Security and Health and Youth Care recently concluded that he received appropriate treatment, but that aid organizations had too little insight into what and how he was doing in the run-up to the stabbing incident.

For example, according ot the terms of his TBS, M. was prohibited from using drugs or alcohol. Urine tests revealed that he violated this ban at least nine times in the two months before the Erasmus Bridge attack, but he support organizations saw no problem because M. displayed “appropriate behavior.” However, the organizations failed to notice that M. had no access to daily activities due to the summer holidays and that he was hanging out with people who use drugs recreationally.

According to the Inspectorates, it is impossible to say whether the knife attack could have been prevented if the care providers had acted differently. They advised the organizations involved to make better agreements about sharing information and discussing risks and approach plans with each other.