The heroic American tourist who was stabbed while protecting two women being violently assaulted on a tram in Germany has been identified as a part-time model from Upstate New York who was left with gruesome facial injuries.
John Rudat, 21, was hospitalized with gruesome knife wounds to his face after stepping in when he saw two women being attacked in the eastern German city of Dresden early Sunday, according to an online fundraiser.
The part-time model — who is also a newly qualified paramedic in Colonie, NY — was traveling in Germany when “he saw two women being violently assaulted,” according to the fundraiser set up by his brother’s girlfriend.
“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,” the fundraiser said.
Pictures from the aftermath of the violent altercation show blood splattered over the floor of the tram, along with tissues used by other passengers to treat Rudat’s wounds.
One of the suspects, a 21-year-old Syrian national, was arrested on suspicion of beating up Rudat before his partner came back and stabbed the EMT.
He was later released by prosecutors in Germany because there was no evidence he carried out the stabbing, German outlet Bild reported on Sunday.
“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 Bild.
His face bloody and covered in bandages, Rudat took to Instagram on Sunday night to slam his attackers and condemn what he called Europe’s “immigration problem” in a video.
“If y’all didn’t think Europe had an immigration problem, especially Germany, let me drop some knowledge on you,” he said, his voice muffled by the heavy bandaging to his nose and above his mouth.
“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,” Rudat said.
“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?” he 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?” he concluded.
The US Embassy in Germany has put out a statement calling on German authorities to bring Rudat’s attacker to justice.
“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 Embassy’s statement read.
