Stephan Balliet Bio, Wiki

Stephan Balliet is a 27-year-old gunman and suspect in an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue and a shooting at a Turkish kebab shop in Halle, Germany, that left two people dead and two others injured on October 9, 2019, Bild reports. The German newspaper has identified Balliet as a neo-Nazi.

Stephan Balliet Background

Balliet is a resident of Saxony-Anhalt, the German state that includes the city of Halle, as per Der Spiegel. He is 27. No other information about Balliet’s background has been made available so far. Spiegel reports that Balliet was not previously known to police.

Two people were killed in a shooting in the eastern German city of Halle on Wednesday, October 9, police said. Witnesses say a synagogue was among the gunmen's targets as Jews marked the holy day of Yom Kippur. pic.twitter.com/aLim2Ze2Fs

— Voice of America (@VOANews) October 9, 2019

Stephan Balliet Twitch Video

As per heavy, Balliet was streaming live video on Twitch for 35 minutes during the incident in the east German city. The video shows Balliet was not able to get into the synagogue, where about 70 people were inside for Yom Kippur services. The gunman was wearing a helmet equipped with a camera, was dressed in a military- or police-style uniform and was armed with multiple long rifles. The video shows he had ammunition and possible explosive devices inside his car.

Prior to his attempt to enter the synagogue, Balliet addressed his camera during the live stream and made anti-Semitic remarks in English. Police said there was only one shooter in the incident after earlier reports indicated there were possibly two gunmen.

Balliet tells viewers that he thinks the Holocaust never happened. He also says feminism and mass immigration are causing the world’s problems and says Jewish people are “at the root” of those problems. His reasons for the attack echo those of the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman, the Christchurch mosque shooter, the Poway synagogue attacker, and the El Paso Walmart gunman.

“According to the current state of knowledge, we must assume that it is at least an anti-Semitic attack,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, according to Bild. “According to the federal prosecutor, there are sufficient indications for a possible right-wing extremist motive.”

Balliet can be seen driving to the synagogue while listening to Future’s “Mask Off,” and preparing his weapons for the attempted attack. Other than his first introduction, Balliet speaks in German throughout most of the video.

Stephan Balliet Arrest

Stephan Balliet was arrested by the police after fleeing from the scene in his own car. About 1:30 p.m. local time. Balliet drove to a business in Landsberg, in Wiedersdorf, and demanded a car from the workers inside, Bild reports. When they told him that there was no car there, he pointed to a taxi parked outside and demanded it, the newspaper reports.

An electrician at the workshop then came out and was startled by what was happening. He told Balliet he couldn’t have the taxi, and Balliet opened fire, shooting the man. He was hospitalized but is expected to survive.

Balliet then took the taxi and fled on the A9 highway and onto B91. He was rammed by a truck in Werschen and then taken into custody, Bild reports. It is not clear if Balliet was injured.

The shooting has drawn comparisons to Brenton Tarrant’s Christchurch mosque massacre that occurred on March 15th, 2019. The gunman in that New Zealand attack also expressed far-right views and live-streamed the attack. In that shooting, 51 people were killed. The shooter posted his video on Facebook.

Shooting near synagogue in #Halle #Germany, in which two killed, not yet claimed by any group. However, far-right communities online are already embracing it, calling the unknown attacker(s) "Saint," the same title they often give to Brenton Tarrant and other far-right terrorists pic.twitter.com/DjFdQoApP5

— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) October 9, 2019

Stephan Balliet Victims

The 27-year-old German man shot a female passerby, before attacking a nearby Turkish kebab shop where a man died.

Twitch Statement

After the Halle shooting, Twitch, a site primarily used by video gamers to live stream as the play, issued a statement to Buzzfeed News saying, “We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took place in Germany today, and our deepest condolences go out to all those affected. Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously. We are working with urgency to remove this content and permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reporting the content of this abhorrent act.”

Stephan Balliet Facebook

A search in facebook for a Stephan Balliet yielded one result. There are several posts under the account with one posted on March 29th, 2017 showing Balliet clad in a US Military Uniform with his name, Balliet embroidered. In the photo, he seems to be franked by two elderly people who could be his parents.