An American tourist who was brutally stabbed while trying to save two women being assaulted on a tram in Germany, has broken his silence. John Rudat, 21, was left with shocking face injuries during the attack. He was traveling in the city of Dresden early Sunday, August 25, when he saw a pair of men violently attacking the women. has broken his silence
Who is John Rudat? Upstate New York model, 21, brutally stabbed while trying to save 2 women in Germany (john.rudat/Instagram)
Rudat was attacked while trying to protect the women. He was later hospitalized with knife wounds to his face.
‘Where is the law?’
Rudat blasted his attackers in a social media post, criticizing Europe’s “immigration problem.” “If y’all didn’t think Europe had an immigration problem, especially Germany, let me drop some knowledge on you,” he said. “It is 11:57 a.m. right now. In three minutes, that man that assaulted that young woman will be released from custody. He’ll be released from custody because he’s not a citizen of Germany, he’s not a citizen of the EU for that matter.”
“He’s an immigrant, an illegal one, a drug dealer, and very popularly known here, especially by the police. This is not the first time this has happened. It’s not the first time that man has beaten up women, and it’s not the first time that the other guy decided to take a swing at my face with a six-inch blade,” he continued.
“If they could do this to the people of Germany and then just get released 12 hours later — even less at this point — where is the law? Where is the structure?” Rudat asked. “If Germans are held to that law and that structure, but these people could just come in, swing knives and hurt, abuse, terrorize and oppress citizens of Germany, then what do we do?”
Rudat is a part-time model from upstate New York, and also a newly qualified paramedic, the New York Post reported. “We got a little scared when we found out,” Molly, his brother’s girlfriend and a fellow first responder, told the outlet. “We didn’t know the extent of his injuries. We were at dinner the other day and he called saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been in an incident, I’m OK, just if you can notify my parents because they weren’t answering the phone.”
Rudat was staying in Dresden with his former foreign exchange host family when the incident involving a well-known local thug and drug dealer took place. One of the suspected attackers, a 21-year-old Syrian national, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Rudat before the other man, his accomplice, stabbed the model. According to German outlet Bild, prosecutors later released him as there was no evidence he carried out the stabbing.
“According to the on-call public prosecutor’s assessment, there were insufficient grounds for detention. The knife attack cannot be attributed to him,” Senior Public Prosecutor Jurgen Schmidt told the outlet.
Rudat’s brother, Logan, told the New York Post that his sibling’s bravery did not come as a surprise to him. “I would have been surprised if he hadn’t stepped in,” the 22-year-old, also first responder, said. “It’s part of his character. That’s just the way we were raised.”
The US Embassy in Germany has urged German authorities to punish Rudat’s attackers. “We strongly condemn the brutal attack on an American citizen in Dresden. While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked. We urge German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law. Safety is a collective responsibility—no one is safe until all are safe,” the statement, shared on X, reads.
Read More | Viral video shows Chinese immigrant describing horrifying attack by drug addict in NYC: ‘Why Asian women?’
GoFundMe launched
Molly has launched a GoFundMe to help Rudat with his medical expenses as he recovers from his injuries. The page says that Rudat’s “passion for saving lives drove him to heroically intervene when he saw two women being violently assaulted.” It added that while one of the attackers was released by authorities, the other “remains at large.”
“John sustained critical injuries from his attempts to protect these females, including a deep facial wound from a 6-inch blade, requiring immediate and extensive surgery in Germany. This horrible act against John leaves us devastated and seeking justice. He now faces a challenging recovery; physically, emotionally, and even financially as he works to heal from this incident. We are all heartbroken but determined to support him through this ordeal,” Molly wrote, describing Rudat as “a kind, selfless soul who put his own safety on the line to help others.”
At the time of writing this article, $38,748 had been raised of the $40K target.