I suspected this from the outset. And now I see Fred Burks, of wanttoknow.info, wonders the same thing. Especially, given his discovery of similar attacks on seven other German cities!

And see Abby Martin:

Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire

(See Martin’s Empire Files video interview below)

From today’s wanttoknow.info email:

Cologne police chief fired as witness says NYE violence was coordinated
January 9, 2016, The Guardian (One of the UK’s leading newspapers)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/08/cologne-violence-suspects-include-asylum…

Cologne’s police chief has been removed from his post amid criticism of his force’s handling of a string of sexual assaults and robberies carried out by groups of men in the German city on New Year’s Eve. His enforced departure came as a witness to the violence told the Guardian the events appeared to have been coordinated. Lieli Shabani, 35, said she saw three Arabic speaking males who were “clearly giving instructions”. A leaked police report [describes] how officers were initially overwhelmed by events outside the city’s train station, after which more than 100 women filed criminal complaints of sexual assault and robbery, including two accounts of rape. Cologne mayor Henriette Reker suggested on Friday that police had held back information from her, and said in a statement that her “trust in the Cologne police leadership is significantly shaken”. The leaked police report, obtained by the German newspaper Bild, said women were forced to “run a gauntlet … beyond description” to reach or leave the station. The incidents in and around the square in front of the main train station have led to accusations of a police and media cover-up. Evidence has emerged that similar attacks had taken place in seven other German cities.

Note: It’s entirely possible that these attacks were coordinated in order to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles about sexual abuse scandals and the manipulation of public perception.

Germany: Authorities must probe Cologne sex assault links
January 12, 2016, Chicago Tribune/Associated Press
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-germany-sex-assaults-20160110-story.html

Authorities need to quickly determine whether a string of New Year’s Eve sexual assaults and robberies in Cologne blamed largely on foreigners may be linked to similar offenses in other cities, Germany’s justice minister said in comments published Sunday. Authorities and witnesses say the attackers were among about 1,000 men gathered at Cologne’s central train station, some of whom broke off into small groups that groped and robbed women. “If such a horde gathers in order to commit crimes, that appears in some form to be planned,” Justice Minister Heiko Maas told the newspaper Bild. Police in Hamburg are also investigating similar sexual assaults and thefts in the St. Pauli district, which occurred on a smaller scale in the northern city on New Year’s Eve. Authorities in Sweden and Finland are also investigating similar incidents in their countries. Cologne police are investigating 379 criminal complaints filed with them, about 40 percent of which involve allegations of sexual offenses. So far, of 31 suspects detained by police for questioning, 18 were asylum seekers but there were also two Germans, an American and others, and none of them were accused specifically of committing sexual assaults.

Note: It’s entirely possible that these attacks were coordinated in order to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment. There were news reports that the police stood by and let these assaults happen. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles about sexual abuse scandals and the manipulation of public perception.