Young people under suspicion: How dangerous is the “last wave of defense”?

With searches and arrests in five federal states, over 200 police forces are moving to a right -wing extremist group. Their alleged members are still very young and, according to the general prosecutor, are not back in front of serious acts of violence. The most important questions and answers:

How long has this group existed?

In one case of supporters, the suspects are said to be a right -wing extremist terrorist association that was founded in mid -April 2024 at the latest and calls itself a “last wave of defense”. Five of them have now been arrested. Three other accused were previously in custody. The security authorities assume that the group has a total of a few dozen supporters.

On the night of October 23, 2024, a cultural center in the Brandenburg Altdöbern was set on fire at night. Two members of the group are said to have been involved in the arson. People lived in the building complex who, according to the federal prosecutor, were not violated by chance. A third is suspected of having designed a speech with which one of them announced the crime in a video.

According to General Prosecutor, two members of the group who are already in custody struck on January 5 of an inhabited accommodation of asylum seekers in Schmölln in Thuringia and – however, tried to set fire to the building with pyrotechnics in vain. At the accommodation, the attackers left swastikas and slogans such as “foreigners out”.

At the beginning of January, three members of the group planned an arson attack on asylum seekers accommodation in Senftenberg in Brandenburg. On February 12th, an apartment and another property were searched in Meißen in Saxon. Among other things, explosives were found in the form of two ball bombs. According to the public prosecutor, it was industrially manufactured pyrotechnics.

What role does the age of the suspects play?

The accused are young people and young adults. The five accused who have now been arrested are – except for one – all minors. The youngest of them – there is a suspicion of the aid – is only 14 years old. Due to their age, some of them with their parents have to appear in front of the investigative judge in Karlsruhe. The announcement by the federal prosecutor said that those now arrested “acted as a young person with responsibility”. This means that they were ripe enough at the time of the crime to see the wrong of their act. This is a prerequisite for being held responsible for criminal law.

What allegations do the Federal Prosecutor’s Office raise?

The federal prosecutor classifies the “last wave of defense” as a right -wing extremist terrorist association. Four members of this terrorist group, three of them, were said to have been a ringleader of the five arrested. The investigators support the fifth support of the association. Some of the accused are also accused of attempted murder, particularly serious arson and property damage, others the aid for these deeds.

What are the penalties in the event of a conviction?

The Youth Court Act regulates how the judiciary deals with crimes of young people who were at least 14 years old at the time of the crime. Even adolescents who are at least 18 years old at the time of the crime, but not yet 21 years old, also fall under these regulations.

On the one hand, the punishments that the youth court can impose include so-called educational measures such as participation in social training courses or anti-aggression training or so-called breeding agents such as repairing or replacing a damaged object. A youth penalty of at least six months to a maximum of ten years can also be imposed. For adolescents who have been convicted of juvenile justice, it can be up to 15 years.

Are there any other right -wing extremist youth groups?

Yes. According to the security authorities, several hundred young people and young adults are concerned. The Berlin Constitutional Protection, for example, classifies the group “German Youth forward” as a right -wing extremist and violent. The right -wing extremist “Elblandrevolte” is particularly active in Saxony. Nationwide, the group “Young and Strong”, which has mobilized against Christopher Street Day events, among other things. In Bavaria, the protection of the constitution has this relatively new merger in view. One of the new right groups, which are very active on social media, is also “the disturbance team”.

What is behind this phenomenon?

“We see a trend that it is currently violent, violent and action -oriented young people from the right -wing extremist scene that come together,” says the Vice President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Sinan Selen. This has been happening in the digital space for a long time, “but we also see an upset in the end of the analog space”. Example of this are attacks at Christopher Street Day events.

This week, the presentation of the annual statistics on politically motivated crime was also about young extremists. The police counted 1,488 motivated violent acts last year – around 17 percent more than in the previous year. The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said: “Of course we have to find that in society as a whole, as now, as now with parts of the young people, we find a shift to the right in ideology and also an increase in acceptance of violence.” He added: “If violence is seen more than a means of exchange of views, then something is wrong in society.”