German intelligence warns Capitol riot, Covid lockdown fuel right-wing extremism
"Germany coronavirus: Hundreds arrested in German 'anti-corona' protests"
Agencies have taken a particular interest in Querdenken 711, whose name loosely translates as "thinking outside the box."
Covid-19 skeptics and right-wing extremists in protest against restrictions and government policy in Berlin on Aug. 29.Omer Messinger / Getty Images file
"The security services are wide awake and are monitoring all developments," Alina Vick, a spokeswoman for Germany's Interior Ministry, said at a news conference Jan. 25 in response to questions from NBC News.
According to provisional police figures released Thursday, the number of crimes committed by right-wing extremists jumped to its highest level in at least four years in 2020.
Suspected coronavirus deniers have attacked a number of people and organizations in recent months. In October, the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's center for disease control, was the target of an arson attack. The same day, an explosive detonated at the Berlin office of the Leibniz Association, a group of research institutes that has also researched the coronavirus.
A woman lights a candle next to the entrance of a synagogue in Munich during a protest against anti-Semitism on Oct. 11, 2019, two days after a deadly shooting targeting a Turkish restaurant in Halle after an attempt at the synagogue.Christof Stache / AFP via Getty Images file
Intelligence agencies have taken a particular interest in the group Querdenken 711, whose name loosely translates as "thinking outside the box." The anti-lockdown group, which was founded in Stuttgart, the capital of the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, has inspired similar groups across the country that espouse a mixture of QAnon conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic ideas and frustration at coronavirus restrictions.
In December, Baden-Württemberg's intelligence service placed the group on a watchlist and warned about rising extremism.
"We are dealing with a movement that formed on the occasion of the corona protests and then radicalized further on," Beate Bube, the president of Baden-Württemberg's intelligence service, said in a recent interview with a local newspaper. "We see an anti-state attitude at demonstrations and in online activities. Such attitudes are specifically fanned by the organizers."
[Insert: Putin would be loving it. ]
She said that the group was not interested in legitimate protest and that it was simply seeking to spread false information about the coronavirus and undermine the rule of law. The riot at the U.S. Capitol has added fuel to those sentiments.
"What we saw in Washington can be a breeding ground for radicalization and violent action in the right-wing scene," Bube said. "Within the state's scene, we are currently seeing verbal approval for the violence at the Capitol."
While official national statistics on extremism for 2020 are not yet available, preliminary numbers released by a German lawmaker indicate that police recorded the highest number of far-right crimes .. https://www.thelocal.de/20210204/germany-records-new-spike-in-far-right-crime-in-2020 .. since 2016. Police recorded 23,080 crimes with far-right backgrounds, around 700 more than in the previous year.
VIDEO - August: Police disperse thousands of protesters in Berlin Aug. 30, 202001:41
A report by RIAS Bavaria, a nonprofit organization, documented 46 anti-Semitic incidents related to coronavirus conspiracy theories in the state of Bavaria alone from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2020. Many incidents occurred at demonstrations, while others occurred online or in daily life.
Annette Seidel-Arpaci, the head of RIAS Bavaria, said in an interview that the coronavirus protests have helped promote anti-Semitic beliefs more broadly, raising the possibility of violence.
"The danger is that ideas turn into public speech and through that potentially into actions," Seidel-Arpaci said.
According to the RIAS Bavaria report, a Jewish pedestrian was accosted in a Munich park last year by a man wearing a T-shirt that read "corona denier" and "anti-vaxxer." The assailant claimed that Jews had created the coronavirus, according to the report.
In another documented case, a German rapper posted a video to Instagram claiming that the Rothschild family was behind a curfew that had been instituted to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Seidel-Arpaci said that signs of anti-Semitism were evident in early protests against coronavirus measures last year but that those sentiments have become much more prevalent now.
"Victims are feeling more fear and insecurity," Seidel-Arpaci said. "Not just because of the coronavirus pandemic, but in general, anti-Semitism is acted out more openly, especially in everyday life."
NEVER FORGET, [...] EVANGELICALS HAVE BEEN RESHAPED INTO THE IMAGE OF TRUMP HIMSELF [...] Faith and freedoms: why evangelicals profess unwavering love for Trump [...] Evangelicals feel Trump has kept his covenant with them by nominating conservative judges to federal courts and to the supreme court; by tacitly supporting abortion bans; by supporting Christian universities and organizations that profess a moral objection to same-sex marriage or contraception; by supporting religious dispensations from anti-discrimination laws; by moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and other measures. [...] The apocalyptic myth that helps explain evangelical support for Trump ""Is this fascism? No. Could it become fascism? Yes "Is Donald Trump a Fascist? Part 2 of Interview with Robert Paxton, Father of Fascism Studies [...] “God’s used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect,” outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in an interview on “Fox & Friends” before going on to claim that he had given the president “a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago. And I shared with him, I said, ‘Mr. President, I know there are people who say, you know, you are the chosen one,’ and I said, ‘You were.’ ” P - Perry’s statement — especially that “chosen one” bit — would be more surprising in a different administration. At this point, though, it could almost disappear into the background chatter of the administration and its allies. Presidential adviser Paula White, for example, uses the description of a demonic struggle to paint contemporary politics as a holy war .. https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/11/paula-white-donald-trumps-new-white-house-adviser-ratchets-up-fake-news-rhetoric-denouncing-demonic-networks.html . In a sermon about Trump in June, she proclaimed, “I declare President Trump will overcome every strategy from hell and every strategy of the enemy, every strategy, and he will fulfill his calling and his destiny.” [...] A theology for times of crisis, real or imagined, the Last World Emperor narrative actually requires a flawed lay hero in the model of the biblical King David — proud, combative and sexually impure but beloved by God not just despite his transgressions but because of them. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=164732870
German election live: Social Democrats secure narrow win as CDU plunges to historic low
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Official preliminary results show SPD secured 25.7% of the vote and CDU won 24.1%
SPD supporters in Berlin cheer after the first forecasts were announced. Photograph: Bernd Von Jutrczenka/AP
Helen Livingstone (now) and Jon Henley (earlier)
Mon 27 Sep 2021 15.24 AEST
LIVE Updated 24m ago
13h ago 02:24 - Here is Reuter’s first take on the nailbiting early exit polls:
Germany’s CDU/CSU conservatives and their Social Democrat rivals were tied in Sunday’s national election, an exit poll showed, leaving open which of them will lead the next government as Angela Merkel prepares to stand down after 16 years in power.
The CDU/CSU bloc won 25% of the vote, their weakest result in a post-war federal election and on a par with the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD), the infratest poll for broadcaster ARD showed. Other exit polls showed the SPD marginally ahead.
“That hurts,” CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak told ARD. Attention will now shift to informal discussions - likely with the Greens, on 15%, and liberal Free Democrats (FDP), on 11% - followed by more formal coalition negotiations, which could take months, leaving Merkel in charge in a caretaker role.
13h ago 02:19
Deutsche Welle’s chief political correspondent, Michaela Kuefner, captures the moment the first exit poll came through to CDU headquarters in Berlin showing the centre-right party neck-and-neck with the Social Democrats:
Michaela Kuefner @MKuefner Static moment of disbelief at Merkel‘s CDU part HQ as first 18:00 CET Exit polls show them on a par with the Social Democrat SPD. Both 25% Still too early to call … long night ahead. #GermanElections VIDEO 2:07 AM · Sep 27, 2021 81 2 ...link to Tweet
14h ago 02:12 - Second exit poll puts Social Democrats marginally ahead
Just to confuse matters - and ratchet up the tension- further, a second exit poll for the broadcaster ZDF put the centre-left SPD on 26%, two points clear of Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU on 24%.
That poll has the Greens on 14.5% and the FDP on 12%.
It’s going to be a long night ...
Updated at 2.24am AEST
14h ago 02:02 - Social Democrats and Merkel’s CDU tied in race to succeed outgoing chancellor, exit poll says
An early exit poll for the public proadcaster ARD suggests the centre-left SPD and centre-right CDU/CSU are neck-and-neck in the race to be the largest party in the Bundestag, with both predicted to win 25% of the vote.
Of potential coalition partners, the Greens are on course for 15% and the liberal, pro-business FDP party for 11%.
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