President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Haldenwang sees “right-wing extremization” in corona protests

President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Haldenwang sees “right-wing extremization” in corona protests

There are protests against corona measures in numerous German cities. Constitutional Protection President Haldenwang sees a formative influence by right-wing extremists in some regions.

The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, sees a lot of “mouth heroism” in the radicalized Corona protest milieu, but does not rule out acts of violence.

When asked whether he feared attacks, Haldenwang told the newspapers of the Funke media group: “There is a lot of mouth heroism involved. Talking about violence and committing it makes a difference. But just think of the homicide in Idar-Oberstein, where someone spontaneously got a gun and shot another person in the gas station. “

He also considers such irrational outbursts of violence out of feelings of anger or powerlessness to be not unlikely in the future, said Haldenwang. When asked about possible murder plots, he added: “With violence-oriented right-wing extremists and in the radicalized Corona protest milieu, no scenario can be ruled out.” But the security authorities are not inactive, as the recent raids in Dresden have shown. There had been searches of six members of a Telegram chat group because of death threats against Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU).

According to Haldenwang, there is “selective and in some regions a formative influence by right-wing extremists, so quasi a” right-wing extremization “of the protest”. He was also concerned about attacks on police officers and journalists during demonstrations. “We see attempts at intimidation against political decision-makers and an extraordinary brutalization of the debate in the social media: From violent fantasies to death threats, which are directed not only against politicians, but also against scientists and doctors.”

In numerous cities, people took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the corona measures and the vaccination campaign. It remained largely peaceful.

Source From: Stern

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