Copenhagen Suffers Second Attack with Shooting Near a Synagogue

Hours after a terror attack at a free speech forum in Copenhagen three people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning near a synagogue just miles away. It was not immediately clear whether the two attacks were linked, and the unidentified shooters in both incidents remained on the loose. They are the latest in ...

463431042
463431042

Hours after a terror attack at a free speech forum in Copenhagen three people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning near a synagogue just miles away.

Hours after a terror attack at a free speech forum in Copenhagen three people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning near a synagogue just miles away.

It was not immediately clear whether the two attacks were linked, and the unidentified shooters in both incidents remained on the loose. They are the latest in a spate of violence in Europe, a continent already shaken by last month’s assault against Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris.

On Saturday afternoon, a gunmen fired on a cafe where an event organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats for his caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed, was taking place. According to wire reports, some 30 bullet holes riddled the window of the Krudttoenden cafe. Vilks was at the event, but was not hurt.

Although the Quran does not explicitly ban depicting Mohamed it is a highly sensitive issue and generally frowned upon in modern Islamic tradition. Many Muslims consider it blasphemous.

“We feel certain now that it is a politically motivated attack, and thereby it is a terrorist attack,” Danish Prime Minister Helle Thornin-Schmidt said of the cafe shooting.

Events in Copenhagen paralleled the Charlie Hebdo siege and its aftermath. Just as in Paris, the gunmen targeted a journalist who had caricatured Mohamed. If the attack near the synagogue is related, it would mirror the actions of Amedy Coulibaly, who targeted a kosher grocery story after Chérif and Saïd Kouachi killed 12 at the satirical newspaper’s headquarters.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan condemned the “deplorable shooting” at the free speech forum and said the United States is prepared to help with the ongoing investigation.

No one has claimed responsibility for either incident. Danish authorities said the victim at the cafe was a 40-year old man attending the event. He has not been identified. Three others were injured.

Denmark, a member of the European Union, has stopped terror potential plots against publications in the past. In 2010, authorities there thwarted a planned attack against Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, a newspaper that published cartoons of Mohamed.

Photo Credit: Lars Ronbog

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.