A New York male model was stabbed Sunday after stepping in to defend two women from an attack on a tram in Dresden, Germany, according to the New York Post.
John Rudat, 21, suffered knife wounds to the face when he intervened, the outlet reported. A GoFundMe organized by his brother’s girlfriend said Rudat, who works as a paramedic and part-time model, sustained a “deep facial wound” while protecting the women. (RELATED: Flesh-Eating Worm Discovered In US Individual, First Case In Years)
The GoFundMe listing described the incident as a “brutal” attack, saying Rudat had recently completed paramedic school and had worked as an EMT for the past year and a half. The fundraiser said he intervened when he saw two women being assaulted “by, according to Law Enforcement reports, two Syrian Nationals,” noting one was briefly detained and released while the other remains at large.
“John sustained critical injuries from his attempts to protect these females, including a deep facial wound from a 6-inch blade, requiring immediate and extensive surgery in Germany,” the fundraiser states. The Post obtained photos that appeared to show bloody tissues on the tram floor.
Rudat later discussed the attack in an Instagram video, claiming the man accused of assaulting the woman was an “immigrant” known to police and not a citizen of Germany or the European Union. He also said the attacker’s accomplice had previously “[taken] a swing at my face.”
“If they could do this to the people of Germany and then just get released 12 hours later — even less at this point — where is the law? Where is the structure?,” Rudat said in his video, framing the attack as part of Europe’s “immigration problem.”
The U.S. Embassy in Germany condemned the assault in a statement on x, urging German authorities “to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law.”
We strongly condemn the brutal attack on an American citizen in Dresden. While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked. We urge German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and punish them to the fullest extent…
— US-Botschaft Berlin (@usbotschaft) August 25, 2025
Rudat had been visiting his former host family at the time, WNYT News reported. The fundraiser has so far collected $32,060 on his behalf.