Amazon’s Twitch Responds to German Synagogue Shooter Live-Stream on the Platform: ‘We Are Shocked and Saddened’

Todd Spangler

Click here to read the full article.

An armed man live-streamed at least part of an attack near a German synagogue on Twitch, the game-focused video platform owned by Amazon, during which two people were shot and killed.

The assault Wednesday — on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish faith — occurred in the east German city of Halle. The attacker, outfitted with a head-mounted camera, unsuccessfully attempted to enter a synagogue in Halle before he killed two people and wounded two others nearby, according to officials. According to police, one suspect has been arrested in connection with the incident. The alleged shooter and the victims have not yet been identified by authorities.

More from Variety

As heard in the Twitch video, which lasted about 35 minutes, the attacker uttered anti-Semitic slogans and used other hateful language, according to media reports.

Twitch, in response, said it was “shocked and saddened” by the killings and said it pulled down the attacker’s video.

“Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously,” the company said in a statement on Twitter. “We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act.”

The live-streamed shootings in Germany echoed the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, this past March, during which an assailant used Facebook Live to broadcast a 17-minute video. The Christchurch attack left 51 people dead.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.