German court gives Afghan man life for Munich car-ramming

A German court in Munich sentenced a 25-year-old Afghan man to life in prison on Thursday, August 6, 2026, for a deadly car-ramming attack on a trade union demonstration in February 2025. The man, identified only as Farhad N. under German privacy laws, was convicted of murdering a 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter and injuring dozens of others.

The Munich court found Farhad N. guilty of two counts of murder, 23 counts of attempted murder, and 22 counts of bodily harm, 19 of them serious. The judges ruled that his crimes carried a "particular gravity of guilt," a legal designation that makes it highly unlikely he will ever be eligible for parole, which is typically considered after 15 years in Germany for a standard life sentence.

The attack occurred on February 13, 2025, when Farhad N. drove a Mini Cooper around a police vehicle and accelerated into a march of approximately 1,400 people. The vehicle struck the mother and her daughter, hurling them 10 meters through the air. Both victims sustained severe head injuries and died several days later. Presiding judge Michael Hoehne noted the mother had chosen to walk at the back of the march, believing the stronger...