Suspect arrested in Germany over knife attack on tram in which American man was hurt

BERLIN — A man has been arrested in connection with a weekend knife attack on a tram in the German city of Dresden in which an American national was wounded, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The 20-year-old male victim was attacked just after midnight on Sunday while the tram was at a stop. Police said that he intervened when two men harassed a woman on board the tram and was then attacked himself before the men fled. He sustained a deep wound to the face.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin condemned the “brutal attack” in a post Monday on social network X. “We urge German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law,” it said.

A 21-year-old Syrian detained on Sunday over the attack was initially let go because prosecutors didn't at that point have grounds to keep him in custody.

Prosecutors and police said in a statement that the man was rearrested on Tuesday morning after new information pointed to him having been involved in the attack.