Swiss city councilor apologizes for firing gun at a Mary and Jesus poster

GENEVA (AP) — A city councilor in Switzerland has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media.

Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later said she had been practicing shots from about 10 meters (33 feet) and found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target.

“I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I realized its religious content. I didn’t think about it,” Ameti wrote on X. “I’m incredibly sorry.”

The Green-Liberal party in Zurich said she had resigned from its leadership. Beat Rüfenacht, its co-president, said he heard that Ameti was “in a safe place, and she’s OK.” Ameti did not respond to an attempt by The Associated Press to reach her through social media.

Kath.ch, a site of the media center for the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland, said Swiss bishops condemned the shooting, saying that “this hurts the religious sensibilities of many Catholics.” The site said Ameti had reached out by email to say she and her family “placed themselves under police protection due to threats.”

Farner Group, a consulting firm where Ameti worked, said in an email that it had decided Monday to “terminate the employment relationship."

The images continued to circulate in Swiss media and online Tuesday. Daily 20 Minutes published a photo of Ameti standing in what looks like a stone-paneled crypt and pointing a pistol. Another frame showed bullet holes in the haloed heads and faces of Mary and Jesus.

The poster, an advertisement from auction house Koller, showed details of the work “Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael” by 14th-century Italian painter Tommaso del Mazza that is set to go up for sale on Sept. 20.

Associates distanced themselves from the actions by Ameti, in particular ahead of Sept. 22 referendums on national and local issues — including an initiative to better protect biodiversity in Switzerland, which the Green-Liberal party in Zurich supports.

Operation Libero, an advocacy group Ameti co-founded that promotes free democracy, called her actions “wrong and inappropriate” and said it supports religious freedom and opposes incitement.

Reports said Ameti, a firearms aficionado and lawyer with expertise in cybersecurity, has carried out stunts in the past, including wearing military fatigues to an event alongside members of the populist Swiss People's Party and posting campaign posters in Albania.

Sanija Ameti, Co-President In Operation Libero, poses for a portriat on Nov.2, 2021, at Proger in Bern. (Christian Beutler/Keystone via AP)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”

A German-based organization called Athiest Refugee Relief said the alleged attacker was not a part of the group and claimed that he made “numerous accusations and claims” against it and former board members, which it said were false.

“We distance ourselves from him in the strongest terms," the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of Atheist Refugee Relief filed a criminal complaint against him in 2019 following “the most foul slander and verbal attacks."

An image taken from a video shows police officers arresting a suspect after car drove into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (TNN/DPA via AP)

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)