7/26/2026
Trey Dimsdale, President
Today is the 10th anniversary of the murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel, a Roman Catholic priest whose throat was slit by two Muslim men as he celebrated mass in a parish church in a small town in Normandy. Later that same year another young Muslim man with known Islamist views drove a stolen truck through the Berlin Christmas market killing 12 and injuring more than 70. A thirteenth victim died of complications from his injuries much later. There have been many more incidents of violence perpetrated by Islamic extremists across Europe. The latest victims were 17 men and women attending Berlin’s Pride festival near the Brandenburg Gate, just a short walk from Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe where another Muslim man attacked a Spanish tourist in 2025 with a knife.
Surely there must be a limit to the patience of the citizens and leaders of the West, but we have yet to see it. It is clear that Europe as a whole and Germany in particular have within their borders those who embrace an ideology that is wholly incompatible with a free and open society and want to destroy it.
Today we offer our sincere condolences to the victims of this violent attack and hold in our hearts and minds the loved ones of the victim that has already died, as well as those waiting anxiously as their loved ones fight to overcome life-threatening injuries.
Trey Dimsdale
President
AHA Foundation