I only half-believe this was actually said, for this reason: If you wanted to blow up Merkel’s refugee policy, you could not write a single more effective line to do it.

But two respected German papers, Bild and Spiegel, obtained the leaked police report claiming that it really was said. Assuming that report is accurate, there were refugees among the degenerates who assaulted scores of women at the train station in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.

[T]he leaked police report, published in Bild newspaper and Spiegel, a news magazine, claims that one of those involved told officers: “I am Syrian. You have to treat me kindly. Mrs Merkel invited me.”

Another tore up his residence permit before the eyes of police, and told them: “You can’t do anything to me, I can get a new one tomorrow.”…

The Express newspaper quoted an unnamed police officer who said his squad had detained several people who had “only been in Germany for a few weeks”.

“Of these people, 14 were from Syria and one was from Afghanistan. That’s the truth. Although it hurts,” he said.

City officials were eager to say a few days ago that there was no evidence refugees were part of the mob in Cologne. Their own police apparently had reason to think differently. See now why Germans are screaming about politically motivated cover-ups?

Spiegel has published an English-language version of its story on the police report. A lot of people are going to get off scot free, and not just because Merkel’s open-door policy needs to be vindicated at all costs:

Identifying those responsible — especially the perpetrators of sexual assaults — “was unfortunately no longer possible.” The reason: “Security forces were unable to get all of the incidents, assaults, crimes, etc. under control. There were simply too many happening at the same time.” Police were frustrated at their inability to help each victim. At times, it wasn’t even possible to record all of the complaints that were being lodged…

The report notes that police officers were “bombarded with fireworks and pelted with glass bottles.” Even after the square was cleared, there were “repeatedly multiple physical confrontations between people as well as groups of people, thefts and robberies in several places at the same time.”

The author of the report draws a grim conclusion: The actions of the police officers was met with a level of disrespect “like I have never experienced in my 29 years of public service.” Because too few officers were on the scene, the ones that were present “reached the limits of their abilities pretty quickly” — their deployment lasted from 9:45 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. As central problems facing law enforcement, the report cites overwhelmed police officers, insufficient personnel and weaknesses in equipment, which were “not to be expected.” The author describes the entire situation on New Years’ Eve as “chaotic and shameful.”

In some cases, the report goes on to say, police couldn’t reach victims because “clusters of men” blocked their way. In theory, a refugee found guilty of a serious offense can be deported; in practice, the odds of any victim positively identifying one of her attackers in a huge crowd of men and having that identification corroborated somehow by other evidence is small. A few days ago, when stories about the attacks first started trickling into English-language media, the best estimate was that 60 complaints had been filed with the police and a third of those alleged sexual assault. As of this morning, according to the Telegraph, the number of complaints exceeds 150 — and fully three-quarters claim a sex attack of some kind.

It’s a baseline assumption among European fans of open borders that refugees will strain to assimilate, if only for their own economic interest. Keep your head down, learn the language, stay out of trouble, work hard, and you’ll do okay. You’re powerless as a stranger in a strange land so you have little choice but to try to impress your hosts. The flaw in that theory, per the quotes in the police report, is that some refugees realize they’re not powerless. Merkel and her allies are totally invested in their success, having bet their political futures on the idea that they can assimilate newcomers from the Middle East. They’re going to do everything they can, up to and including suppressing evidence in their own police reports, to avoid admissions of failure. The guy who allegedly tore up his residence permit in front of the cops seems to have understood which side has the leverage. I wonder how many other new arrivals understand it too.

For some first-hand accounts of what it was like at the Cologne train station last week, watch the clips of victims recounting their ordeal at the BBC. Sample quote: “I was scared that if someone showed up with a knife I could be raped in the middle of the street.” Exit question from a Twitter buddy: Should we start offering asylum to Germans?