Tourist stabbed while defending two women slams Europe's ‘immigration problem'

An American tourist who was stabbed in the face while bravely protecting two women on a tram in Germany has slammed Europe's "immigration problem" after he said one of the attackers was released from custody. Model John Rudat, 21, from New York state, raged against migration on the continent, saying he needed to "drop some knowledge" in a video which has had more than 800K views.

Mr Rudat has been identified as the Good Samaritan who stepped in to help the fellow passengers on public transport in Dresden, Germany, early on Sunday morning. He suffered knife wounds to his face and was rushed to hospital for surgery. It is reported that he was attacked by a 21-year-old Syrian national who was arrested on suspicion of assault before an accomplice came and stabbed him with a six-inch blade. One of the men is said to be still at large.

Still bloodied and bandaged from his ordeal, Mr Rudat explained one of his alleged assailants had been released by German authorities partly because he was an "immigrant, an illegal one". Like the UK, illegal migration is a huge issue in Germany, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledging to get a grip on numbers and deportations.

The New York Post reports Mr Rudat said in a video posted online: “If y’all didn’t think that Europe had an immigration problem, especially Germany, let me drop some knowledge on you."

Describing one of his alleged attackers, who he claimed had attacked women before, being released by German police, he added: “He doesn’t even belong in here. He is an immigrant, an illegal one, a drug dealer and very popularly known here, especially by the police.

“If they could do this to the people and then just get released 12 hours later, even less at this point, where’s the law? Where’s the structure? If Germans are held to that law and that structure, but these people could just come in, swing knives, and hurt, abuse, terrorise and oppress citizens of Germany, then what do we do?”

A statement from the US embassy in Germany urged the authorities to "swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law". It added: "Safety is a collective responsibility—no one is safe until all are safe."

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Rudat's recovery and has so far raised more than £30,000 in donations.

In the detail of the page, set up by the girlfriend of Mr Rudat's brother, it says: "John was brutally attacked on public transportation while travelling in Germany on August 24, 2025.

"Fresh from completing paramedic school, and having worked as an EMT for the last year and a half, John’s passion for saving lives drove him to heroically intervene when he saw two women being violently assaulted by, according to law enforcement reports, two Syrian nationals.

"One of whom was detained briefly by authorities but released shortly after, and the other remains at large. John sustained critical injuries from his attempts to protect these females, including a deep facial wound from a 6-inch blade, requiring immediate and extensive surgery in Germany."

The post on the fundraising site added: "This horrible act against John leaves us devastated and seeking justice. He now faces a challenging recovery, physically, emotionally, and even financially, as he works to heal from this incident."