An AfD city councilor is said to have shouted “Sieg Heil” in a bar in Sonneberg and threatened the innkeeper. In his own party, people want to wait and see.
“Sieg Heil” chants, a shirt with a right-wing extremist print and a threat against the landlord: All of this is said to have happened when an AfD politician visited a bar in Sonneberg. According to information from “Focus”, the police are now investigating AfD city councilor Alexander Escher for using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.
Escher is said to have behaved suspiciously in the “Gewölbe-Bar” together with his companion at the beginning of 2022. Marcel Rocho, the landlord, also confirmed this in an interview with t-online. The city councilor came to his bar together with another man. Escher himself was wearing a blue AfD polo shirt. According to the “Focus” report, the companion’s shirt is said to have had the inscription “I love HTLR” – “I love Hitler”.
“We’ll get you”
The city councilor shouted “Sieg Heil” at the bar. Rocho warned him. A little later, Escher is said to have repeated the call. “This is something that happens so regularly in Sonneberg that you are no longer shocked,” explains Rocho. “You are not surprised, you just throw them out. And I threw them out and banned them from the premises.”
But that didn’t go smoothly either, says Rocho. “They quickly downed their beer. One of them then said to me: ‘We’ll get you.’ Then they left.” According to information from “Focus”, Escher later stated in a social media post that he had not shouted the slogan. He was also neither thrown out of the bar nor banned from the premises. Rocho contradicts this on t-online: “I have witnesses for that.”
AfD spokesman: “I will not tolerate such things”
The case is also a political issue. The Left Party in Sonneberg has called on Escher to step down as city councillor. The other parties are still holding back. “The man is still on the city council. He is even standing for re-election,” says Rocho. Elections are being held in Sonneberg this weekend.
The allegations also sparked lively discussion in Escher’s own party. “We are informed and are checking it,” says regional association spokesman Falko Graf on Thursday evening t-online. It’s a statement against a statement. “Alexander Escher tells us he didn’t commit it. We currently have the presumption of innocence.”
The AfD in Sonneberg has appointed Robert Sesselmann, the first AfD district administrator in Germany. “That’s why we are under special observation here anyway,” said Graf. “We want to do our work here in Sonneberg.” If the allegations against Escher turn out to be true, that would be “an absolute no-go. I won’t tolerate anything like that.”