10,000 mourn victims of racist shooting rampage in Germany

Around 10,000 protesters marched through the central German town of Hanau on Sunday to mourn the nine persons who were killed by an immigrant-hating gunman four days ago.

“Nowadays and hours will be the blackest and darkest our town has ever experienced during peace times,” Hanau mayor Claus Kaminsky told the somber crowds, based on the German news agency dpa. But, he said, those that want to pull apart society won't succeed, “because we are more and we'll prevent that.”

A 43-year-old German man shot to death nine persons in the Frankfurt suburb on Wednesday before apparently killing his mother and himself. Five of the victims were reported to be Turkish citizens. The attacker left rambling texts and videos where he espoused racist views, needed genocide and claimed to have already been under surveillance since birth.

Turkey's ambassador to Germany, Ali Kemal Aydin, warned that Turkish immigrants in Germany are experiencing increasingly more hate crimes in the united states.

“This cannot which must not continue,” Aydin said at the protest.

The racist killings were Germany's third deadly far-right attack in just a matter of months. The rampage followed October’s anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue in Halle and the slaying in June of a regional politician who supported Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy toward migrants.

The killings come at a time when the far right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany is among the most country's first political party in decades to establish itself as a substantial force on the extreme right. Each of the victims had immigrant roots and several are accusing the party of making a climate where right-wing extremism and racism can flourish.

There were daily candle vigils for the victims since the shooting and another big protest against racism on Saturday that also drew thousands. A memorial for the victims is planned for later this week.