German authorities described the incident as a suspected Islamist terrorist attack; Ballout was shot dead in a confrontation with police the following day. The response to the attack is the latest example of how identity politics is beginning to break down under its own contradictions. Identity politics only condemns violence when the attacker belongs to a “privileged” group and the victim belongs to a “protected” one. Yet there is a kernel of truth there, especially when applied to identity politics, the practical fruit of postmodernism in public life. Identity politics is a net designed to catch the villains it is designed to catch.