Germany: Queer referee attacked after viral proposal

Thanks for the additional information!

Here's the quote from the paywalled article I was referring to:

Bethke hat im Herbst 2024 Anzeige gegen Pascal K. erstattet. In Summe gehe es, andere Forderungen wegen ausstehender Rechnungen in der Bar eingerechnet, um knapp 10 000 Euro. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hat Ermittlungen eingeleitet. Aber auch die Behörden konnten Pascal K. nicht finden. Zwischenzeitlich hat die Staatsanwaltschaft Köln sogar nach ihm gesucht und das Ermittlungsverfahren dafür vorübergehend ausgesetzt, weil er an seiner Meldeadresse nicht gelebt habe, so ein Sprecher. Inzwischen laufen die Ermittlungen wieder.

Translation:

Bethke filed a criminal complaint against Pascal K. in the fall of 2024. Including other claims for outstanding bills at the bar, the total amount is just under 10,000 euros. The public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation. However, the authorities were also unable to locate Pascal K. According to a spokesperson, the Cologne public prosecutor's office even searched for him and temporarily suspended the investigation because he was not living at his registered address. The investigation has since resumed.

There has also been another case where there was a civil arrest warrant against K., though that isn't a police matter in Germany:

Oliver Strank sagt, seit Oktober 2023 bestehe in der Sache ein Vollstreckungstitel, aber K. sei nicht greifbar gewesen. Im Sommer 2024 hat Strank sogar einen zivilrechtlichen Haftbefehl gegen K. erwirkt. Doch die zuständige Gerichtsvollzieherin, die diesen Haftbefehl vollstrecken müsste, habe den Gesuchten nie antreffen können, sagt Strank.

Translation:

Oliver Strank says that there has been an enforcement order in the matter since October 2023, but K. could not be located. In the summer of 2024, Strank even obtained a civil arrest warrant for K. However, Strank says the responsible bailiff, who would have to execute this arrest warrant, was never able to find the wanted person.

Literally isn't apologetic. Just highlights other plausible motives. Their coming out/proposal may just have made it easier to find their whereabouts.

It needs to be permissible to entertain the thought that a person who was attacked just happened to be LGBTQIA+ and the attack had other motives, especially if there are reasons to assume other motives. I'd rather live in a country where the police are bound by the law to not jump to conclusions because of what seems obvious at first glance.

This.

And it's not just law enforcement, but also the media - basically anyone who has any semblance of authority therefore their words have more power than your average person.

Let's play the hypothesis game. Let's presume that the referee wasn't attacked because he was gay while in public, but rather, someone he had beef with (even unknowingly) saw him on TV, followed him and beat him up. Then once he's caught he could sue the police and the media who published that he beat the referee because he was gay, which would be slander...

I know for many it's weird that criminals get to have rights, but over the past ~250 years we've refined a system that mostly works AND helps the police apprehend criminals at a much higher rate. Sorry fellas but your need to know comes last, the priority is on catching the person or people who did this and serving justice.

The higher standard is "support LGBTQ+".

Please read the sources in the other posts...