An American whose face was slashed on a tram in Germany<\/a> has claimed Europe has an \u201cimmigration problem,\u201d echoing rhetoric used by President Donald Trump<\/a> after police identified a suspect in the attack<\/a> as a Syrian man.<\/p>\n Two men were harassing a group of women on the tram in Dresden early Sunday morning when John Rudat, a paramedic and model from New York state, intervened, German police said<\/a>. The 20-year-old was then stabbed, and the perpetrators fled. <\/p>\n The attack left him with a \u201cdeep facial wound\u201d that required \u201cimmediate and extensive surgery,\u201d according to a GoFundMe<\/a> launched to pay his medical expenses. <\/p>\n Rudat told right-wing German media outlet Nius<\/a> he intervened after he saw one of the men on the tram strike a woman. Rudat told the man to stop and pushed him, and the man later hit him, he recalled. Rudat said he was trying to de-escalate the situation when another man approached and slashed him across his face. The 20-year-old, described on the GoFundMe page as \u201ca kind, selfless soul,\u201d has since been hailed as a hero for his actions.<\/p>\n Officers briefly arrested one suspect on Sunday, identified as a 21-year-old Syrian, but later released him because prosecutors didn\u2019t have grounds to keep him detained, the Associated Press<\/a> reports. On Tuesday, officers re-arrested the 21-year-old on suspicion that he was involved in the attack, local prosecutors and police said<\/a>. He is now in pre-trial detention.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n American John Rudat claims there is an \u2018immigration problem\u2019 in Europe and Germany after he was attacked on a Dresden tram (GoFundMe)<\/p>\n Rudat has since used anti-immigration rhetoric that echoes statements made by Trump, who has previously railed against European immigration policies. German police have not released any identifying details about the suspected attacker, including his immigration status. <\/p>\n The Independent has contacted Rudat and local police for comment.<\/p>\n In an Instagram video shared from his hospital bed, Rudat \u2013 his face still covered in bandages \u2013 argued there is an \u201cimmigration problem\u201d in Europe as he recounted the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you all didn\u2019t think that Europe had an immigration problem, especially Germany, let me drop some knowledge on you,\u201d Rudat said<\/a> in the video. <\/p>\n He went on to claim that police had arrested a suspect but were going to release him \u201cbecause he’s not a citizen of Germany … he doesn\u2019t even belong in here,\u201d appearing to suggest there were different levels of justice for German citizens and foreign nationals.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Rudat said he did not think Europeans got involved in knife crime (GoFundMe)<\/p>\n He also told the U.K.-based news outlet GB News<\/a> that \u201chundreds\u201d of people have reached out to him in recent days expressing \u201cclaims and stresses about, over the last 10 years, the immigration problem and the violence problem has been really rising and becoming a legitimate threat to everyday safety.\u201d<\/p>\n GB News asked Rudat if he thinks Europe should adopt immigration policies similar to those implemented by Trump, who has vowed to create the \u201clargest deportation program in American history.\u201d<\/p>\n He replied: \u201cI think the German people would really appreciate some policies like that. I think the German people would really appreciate being able to feel safe on their own transportation systems. And I hope that Germany and the government of Germany and the people of Germany push for exactly that: more policy for more safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Rudat, who had spent a year living in Dresden and was returning to visit his host family, said he would never have expected to be involved in a knife-related incident in Europe. He said: \u201cI never thought I’d get into a knife altercation because I’m in Europe, people don’t do that here, or at least Europeans don’t.\u201d<\/p>\n Foreigners are not increasing Germany\u2019s crime rate, according to a study published in February by the Ifo Institute.<\/a> The institute, using crime data from 2018 to 2023, found \u201cno correlation between an increasing share of foreigners in a district and the local crime rate,\u201d researcher Jean-Victor Alipour said in a statement.<\/p>\n Trump has often criticized immigration policies in Europe, even claiming last month that immigration is \u201ckilling Europe.\u201d<\/a> Trump also targeted Germany in his first term, writing in 2018 that crime in the nation was \u201cway up\u201d as immigration was on the rise. Trump made this claim despite federal data showing that German crime levels hit a 25-year low in 2017, The New York Times<\/a> reports. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n President Donald Trump said last month that \u2018immigration is killing Europe\u2019 (AP)<\/p>\n Trump still doubled-down on the statement, claiming without evidence that German officials had not accurately reported crime data.<\/p>\n \u201cCrime in Germany is up 10% plus (officials do not want to report these crimes) since migrants were accepted,\u201d he wrote on June 19, 2018. \u201cOthers countries are even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n After the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Germany accepted about a million refugees from the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s allies have also defended Germany\u2019s far-right, anti-immigrant AfD party, which is rising in popularity. Some of the party\u2019s leaders have also echoed Nazi ideology<\/a>, including one leader who has been fined for using a banned Nazi slogan.<\/p>\n Elon Musk, who was once a close ally of Trump\u2019s, wrote on X in December that \u201conly the AfD can save Germany,\u201d and has appeared remotely at AfD events. Musk appeared to do two Nazi-style salutes<\/a> at one of Trump’s inauguration events on January 20, although he later denied they were intended as such. Amid the uproar he tweeted: \u201cFrankly, they need better dirty tricks. The \u2018everyone is Hitler\u2019 attack is so tired.\u201d<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also criticized the German government after intelligence officials classified the party as a \u201cproven right-wing extremist organization\u201d in May, NBC News<\/a> reports. The classification, which the AfD sued the German intelligence agency over, means intelligence officials can now use informants and other tools to monitor the party\u2019s activities, the Associated Press<\/a> reports. <\/p>\n Shortly after German officials announced the new classification, Rubio wrote on X<\/a>: \u201cGermany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That\u2019s not democracy\u2014it\u2019s tyranny in disguise<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is truly extremist is not the popular AfD\u2014which took second in the recent election\u2014but rather the establishment\u2019s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes,\u201d Rubio added. <\/p>\n The German Foreign Office issued<\/a> a direct reply to Rubio\u2019s criticism: \u201cThis is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance echoed Rubio\u2019s point in an interview later that month.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that it is very, very dangerous to use the neutral institutions of state \u2014 the military, the police forces … the intel services \u2014 to try to delegitimize another competing political party,\u201d Vance said, according to NBC News. \u201cI think that\u2019s especially true when that political party just got second in an election and is, depending on which poll you believe, either the [most] popular or the second-most popular party.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/93958937_175608168116503_r.jpeg\")
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