The political fall-out from the Cologne attacks and how leaders and police are responding to justified public anger and fears in a measured and responsible way:

Groups that oppose migration into Germany said the incidents in Cologne showcased the dangers of accepting large numbers of migrants. Lutz Bachmann, who heads the anti-immigrant Pegida movement, blamed the German leadership for the alleged assaults.

Reker, Cologne’s new mayor, who was stabbed in October during a campaign event because of her pro-migrants view, said making such a connection was “completely improper.” And, she said, the city would prepare better for its upcoming Carnival season.

“We will explain our Carnival much better to people who come from other cultures, so there won’t be any confusion about what constitutes celebratory behavior in Cologne, which has nothing to do with a sexual frankness,” she said, according to comments reported by The New York Times.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has become the face of Germany’s open-doors policy for refugees, called Reker on Tuesday to express her “outrage.” She said the perpetrators must be punished “regardless of their origin or background.”

And at a news conference on Tuesday, Heiko Maas, Germany’s justice minister, said the ethnic background of the alleged perpetrators was irrelevant.

“The law does not discriminate regarding a person’s origin or passport,” he said, according to the BBC. “All are equal before the law.”

Arnold Plickert, who heads the main police union in North Rhine-Westphalia, the region where Cologne is located, called the alleged assaults “a massive attack on basic rights,” adding there would be justice even if it has “politically uncomfortable” consequences.

He said, according to Deutsche Welle, “Any refugees who have a problem integrating into our open society and respecting the rights of other people” must be dealt with using the “full force of the law.” But he added that the public shouldn’t forget “the great majority of the people who have come to us have done so because their lives are no longer safe in their homelands.”

German officials said justice would be color-blind, adding it was important not to tie the alleged assaults to the refugees and migrants.