On February 14th, 2015, a gunman attacked a free speech debate at cultural centre and event venue Krudttønden in Copenhagen, killing film director Finn Nørgaard and wounding three police officers.
Hours later, he opened fire at the synagogue on Krystalgade, killing security guard Dan Uzan and injuring two officers.
The attacker, Omar El-Hussein, was shot and killed by police near Nørrebro Station early the next morning.
El-Hussein was reportedly inspired by jihadist ideology and had, prior to the attacks, pledged allegiance in a Facebook post to the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group .
A decade after the attacks on Krudttønden and the synagogue, round-the-clock police security remains in place on Krystalgade with no plans to remove it.
The police presence “provides the necessary sense of safety, and the Jewish community is deeply grateful for the high level of security around all Jewish institutions,” Dan Rosenberg Asmussen of the Jewish Community in Denmark (Det Jødiske Samfund), told newswire Ritzau.
Asmussen was chairperson of the religious community when the deadly attacks took place and was recently re-elected to its board.
The intended target of the Krystalgade shooting was believed to have been artist and Muhammad cartoonist Lars Vilks, who was unharmed.
The gunman escaped and struck again shortly after midnight on February 15th, opening fire outside the synagogue on Krystalgade.
Hours later, El-Hussein was shot and killed in an exchange of fire with police a few kilometres away near Nørrebro Station.
Asmussen told Ritzau he feels safe and grateful for the high security around Jewish institutions, but hopes that round-the-clock security will one day become unnecessary.
That is unlikely to happen for the foreseeable future given the current situation of conflict in the Middle East, particularly in relation to the October 7th, 2023 terror attack on Israel by militant Palestinian group Hamas and subsequent Israeli war on Gaza.
An increase in antisemitic incidents have been reported since the ongoing conflict broke out.
“I don’t see the terror threat disappearing anytime soon. But we are working hard through dialogue and education to break down the prejudices and hatred that can lead to terrorism,” Asmussen told Ritzau.
Police intelligence service PET declined to disclose to Ritzau the number of potential attacks which have been prevented in Denmark since the attacks of February 14th and 15th, 2015.
Memorial occasions on the tenth anniversary of the attacks will include a conference at the Christiansborg parliament, held by the Finn Nørgaard Association; and a memorial in Krystalgade organised by the Friends of Dan Uzan.
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