Back in November, we remarked [4] that despite occasional videos of angry Germans protesting [5]at what has become the biggest "foreign invasion" of Europe since World War II [6], the German popular response to the wave of migrants, which is now expected to top 1 million in 2015 has been relatively calm.
"Fear (and anger), however, are building beneath the otherwise calm surface," we warned.
How did we know that? Because as we proceeded to report, Germany had run out of pepper spray after a 600% increase in sales. "There is fear" explained Kai Prase, managing director of DEF-TEC Defense Technology GmbH in Frankfurt, one of the major producers of repellents. "For the past six to seven weeks we have been practically sold out."
That was before Paris.
And before Hannover.
And before Cologne.
In the wake of the wave of sexual assaults which occurred across the bloc on New Year's Eve (most notably in Germany), we decided to check up on the pepper spray situation and sure enough, Germans are even more frightened than before.
How do we know this time around? Because according to FAZ [7], Germans are Googling "pepper spray" like there's no tomorrow:
[8]
Then again, while mace may be effective as a groper-be-gone defense tactic, it's little help against a Kalashnikov.
