Munich court sentences Afghan car-ramming attacker to life for 2025 demonstration killings

The verdict

On Thursday, 6 August 2026, the Higher Regional Court in Munich sentenced Farhad N., a 25-year-old Afghan national, to life in prison for a car-ramming attack on a Verdi trade union demonstration in Munich on 13 February 2025. The court convicted him of two counts of murder, 23 counts of attempted murder (one more than the prosecution had requested), 19 counts of grievous bodily harm, and 3 counts of intentional bodily harm. The presiding judge, Michael Höhne, found that the defendant bore "particularly serious guilt," a designation under German law that makes early release after the standard 15-year minimum highly unlikely. The sentence followed the federal prosecutor's demand for life imprisonment; the defense had pleaded for 15 years and placement in a psychiatric hospital.

The attack

On the morning of 13 February 2025, approximately 1,400 people were marching through central Munich at the call of the Verdi public services union. The city was under tight security for the Munich Security Conference, scheduled to begin the following day. Driving a BMW Mini, Farhad N. overtook the police escorting the procession and drove deliberately into the crowd from behind. A 37-year-old woman of Algerian origin, who worked as an engineer for the city, and her two-year-old daughter were thrown approximately ten meters by the collision. Both died two days later. Authorities said 44 other people suffered life-threatening or serious injuries, though some sources reported the figure as nearly 40. Many victims continue to suffer physical or psychological consequences, and some remain unable to work. Farhad N. was arrested immediately while still behind the wheel of his car.

Motive and background

The court found that Farhad N. wanted to attack and kill arbitrarily chosen people in Germany as a reaction to the situation in Islamic countries, including Afghanistan and Gaza, and to the actions of the United States and other Western nations there. The judge stated that the defendant wanted to commit a deed pleasing to God and prove to Allah, himself, and his family that he was a good Muslim. Personal emotions such as anger, disappointment, and bitterness also played a role, according to the court. Investigators found no evidence that he belonged to any terrorist organization, such as Islamic State. He had come to Germany in 2016 but never obtained asylum; he held a permanent residence permit. At the time of his arrest, he shouted "Allah Akbar" and prayed, and authorities quickly established his Islamist orientation and religious motivation.

The crime scene was a true field of ruins.

Political context

The attack occurred ten days before Germany's parliamentary elections and during a period when several attacks involving immigrants over the preceding months had pushed migration to the forefront of the campaign. The opposition linked these attacks to migration policy. Both the perpetrator and the victims had migration backgrounds. The family of the mother and daughter called on people not to exploit the deaths for political gain. One of two prosecutors from the Federal Prosecutor General's Office said in closing remarks that the perpetrator's mode of action was aimed at the annihilation of human life.