Motive for Erasmus Bridge fatal stabbing still unclear, Rotterdam mayor says

It is not yet clear whether the fatal stabbing at the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam last week was an act of terrorism, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said during his last city council meeting as mayor. Many questions still need to be answered by the investigation, the mayor said, NOS reports. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is investigating suspect Ayoub M. for terrorism.

On September 19, M. allegedly attacked two men with knives at the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam. He killed Phillip Winter, a 32-year-old German urban planner who moved from Hamburg to Rotterdam earlier this year, and wounded a 33-year-old Swiss man. Witnesses said the man shouted “Allahu akbar,” a phrase meaning ‘God is most great’ used by Muslims in prayers, during the attack.

It has since become clear that M. suffers from a serious mental disorder and previously tried to murder his mother and behaved violently toward an enforcement officer. He was undergoing mandatory psychiatric treatment imposed on him by the court.

Due to the witness statements, speculations of terrorism arose almost immediately after the attack. A day later, Aboutaleb told the regional broadcaster Rijnmond that he says Allahu akbar “dozens of times a day,” calling it “a filler word” for many Muslims. “Whether it has a meaning here in the context that you might be thinking of, terrorism, I do not know. That will be determined by the investigation.”

Later, Aboutaleb said on Eva Jinek’s talk show that he should not have made that statement. “The comment was not really relevant, so it should have been left out. Because it ultimately clouds the whole thing and that was unnecessary.”

Aboutaleb also received criticism for not responding to the incident promptly. He was at his farewell party at the time of the attack. The mayor defended himself by saying that the police only later told him how serious the incident was.

This was Aboutaleb’s last city council meeting as mayor of Rotterdam. He will step down later on Thursday afternoon. Carola Schouten will take over the office on October 10.