On Tuesday, we documented multiple reports that suggest as many as 1,000 men “of Arab or North African origin” participated in what appeared to be coordinated attacks on German women in Cologne.

“About 90 women have reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations outside [the city’s] cathedral,” Reuters writes, adding that the men were “between 18 and 35” and appeared to be “mostly drunk.”

Cologne mayor Henriette Reker called the incident “unbelievable and intolerable” while Justice Minister Heiko Maas described the attacks as “a new scale of organized crime."

For her part, Reker has been variously criticized for comments which seem to place some of the blame with the victims. "The Mayor of Cologne said today that women should adopt a “code of conduct” to prevent future assault at a crisis meeting following the sexual attack of women by 1000 men on New Year’s eve," The Independent reports. "The suggested code of conduct includes maintaining an arm’s length distance from strangers, to stick within your own group, to ask bystanders for help or to intervene as a witness, or to inform the police if you are the victim of such an assault." 

“We need to prevent confusion [among asylum seekers] about what constitutes happy behaviour and what is utterly separate from openness, especially in sexual behaviour," Reker said, as though this might all be one big misunderstading.

"Ms Merkel where are you? What do you say? This scares us!,” read a sign held by one of hundreds of protesters who gathered outside the cathedral on Tuesday. Here are some images from the demonstrations:

"A spokeswoman for the interior ministry in North-Rhine Westphalia, the state in which Cologne is located, said there were three suspects but declined to give further details,"