It's now clear that what police first described as a "relaxed atmosphere" in Cologne, Germany, on New Year's Eve was anything but: Of the more than 500 criminal complaints related to incidents near the city's main train station that night, roughly 40 percent include allegations of sexual assault, including at least two rapes.
The Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who last month famously called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, also mentioned German crime twice on Twitter last week, followed by admonitions to "GET SMART!"
In a widely shared Facebook post, evangelical leader Franklin Graham - the eldest son of Billy Graham - voiced concern over unchecked immigration and described what happened in Germany as a "nightmare."
Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas mentioned the Cologne attacks in a USA Today piece, warning that unchecked immigration  could eventually contribute to the United States' decline.