The suspect behind the Wednesday synagogue shooting in Halle, Germany, broadcast his rampage on livestreaming platform Twitch, part of a growing trend of right wing extremists using real-time technology to record attacks.
The attack marked the first lethal targeting of a place of worship by a far-Right gunman in Europe and prompted Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to travel to the town in a show of solidarity with the Jewish residents on Yom Kuppur.
At around midday local time on Wednesday, the gunman attempted to enter Halle’s synagogue where dozens were observing the Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day.
After failing to get into the building, he shot two people dead nearby, including one woman outside the synagogue and one man in a kebab shop. Around “70-80” people were in synagogue at the time of the attack, Max Privorotzki, leader of the local Jewish community said on Wednesday.
35 minutes of the suspect’s video of was broadcast on Twitch, an Amazon-owned platform that is primarily used by video game players.
The video appeared to show the gunman, named as Stephan Balliet, wearing military-style clothing and using several weapons in the attack. In it, he also makes misogynistic and anti-Semitic comments at the camera – including denying the Holocaust ever happened.
The footage was eerily reminiscent of a real-life video game and Balliet's father told Germany's Bild newspaper that his son had in recent years become engrossed by gaming and online platforms.
“We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took place in Germany today, and our deepest condolences go out to all those affected,” a Twitch spokesperson said. “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 reposting content of this abhorrent act.”
Twitch posted a series of tweets late on Wednesday, claiming that “approximately five people” watched the stream while it was live.
Subsequently, a recording of the stream was viewed by about 2,200 people “in the 30 minutes before the video was flagged and removed from Twitch,” the company said.
The account was created two months before the shooting, the spokesperson said, adding that the company was continuing to investigate the shooting.
“Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously. We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act,” the spokesperson added.
Police say the suspect was arrested after fleeing the scene. Local media suggest the 27-year-old man is from Germany.
Security was boosted at other German synagogues on Wednesday evening, following the news of the attack.
A spokesman said Mrs Merkel condemned the shooting and offered her solidarity "for all Jews on the holy day of Yom Kippur".
But Jewish leaders stressed that words were not enough.
“If there had been a police guard this man could have been taken care of at a point so it wouldn’t have come to the second attack in the kebab stand,” said Dr Josef Schuster, president of the Committee of Jews in Germany, on national radio. “I hope Saxony-Anhalt heeds this wake-up call.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining calls for German authorities to "act resolutely against the phenomenon of anti-Semitism".
Far-right extremists have regularly livestreamed their terrorist attacks, in what appears to be a rising trend.
The shooters in Christchurch in New Zealand and the synagogue attack in Poway California in April both livestreamed their killing sprees on Facebook.
