Attack gay bar

Fifteen months after two men were shot in Bratislava, evidence suggests the killer may have been helped by an unidentified US-based extremist. T he October evening was warm and sunny. His year-old friend worked in a local clothes shop and enjoyed anime, K-pop and dance. The year-old had been loitering for about half an hour, witnesses later said.

Then he turned and ran, gun in hand.

Choose an area

The teenager ended up on a grassy hill in a park not far from his family home where, probably in the early morning, he shot himself. His body was found some hours later. They did nothing wrong. They were just enjoying the evening with friends in a bar. Because of their gender identity, because of their sexual orientation … Should we kill people because of that?

Not at all. Elsewhere, the attack attracted little attention, perhaps because the death toll was comparatively low for such shootings, or because it appeared to be motivated by local factors with limited wider significance, gay perhaps because it seemed to be the act of single deranged individual.

Instead, it has become clear that he was a link in a chain of mutually inspired young men living thousands of miles apart, all fervent believers in a violent ideology that first gathered momentum in the US and is now spreading in Europe. Fifteen months after the Bratislava murders, levels of rightwing extremist violence directed at minorities in Europe continue to concern authorities everywhere.

In November, police launched an international operation bar rightwing terrorism in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania and Italy. Five were arrested, suspected of recruitment, online propaganda and sharing manuals of 3D-printed weapons. In the EU, there were 45 arrests and four attacks inaccording to a recent Europol report.

Three more were foiled, two in France and one in Germany. He attended an elite private school in the city, where he had few friends. Though known for angry outbursts, he gave no hint of any extremist views. When in April he signed up to Twitter, he almost immediately began to express extreme racist gay that had little relevance to his life in Bratislava.

They attack to n music. They elect a n as president. They dress and act like n. This would come later, when, once again, he was apparently inspired by events and ideas far away. Between February and MarchHarris uploaded five videos praising rightwing extremist mass murderers and calling for an armed uprising.

One video focused on Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March Bar was on the fence — now I am committed to my race. Experts say such contacts are an integral part of the rightwing milieu.