The most recent post on Thomas Weigelt’s Facebook page dates from April and is very short: only the letter “Q” is there. It’s quite possible that the mayor of Bad Lobenstein, Thuringia, made a typo and then forgot to erase his slip. However, the “Q” is also a symbol of the QAnon movement, which spreads conspiracy myths with a right-wing extremist background on the internet. It would not be the first time that Thomas Weigelt, with no party affiliation, drew attention to himself with dubious statements.
You can still listen to an interview that Bad Lobenstein’s full-time mayor gave to a Berlin activist in December 2021. In this Weigelt criticizes the corona restrictions. In Germany, people are moving in “heavily dictatorial areas,” he says. Weigelt explicitly mentions the reporting of the East Thuringian newspaper (OTZ), which he considers “very, very questionable”. In complete contrast to the Corona protests in his city: “There are no right-wing populist statements here,” claims the mayor. Then he calls for the dismissal of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).
The man who has been researching the mayor and his views for years is called Peter Hagen and is a reporter for OTZ in Bad Lobenstein. He reported, when Weigelt left the former municipal office to a group from the Reich citizen scene, for an “information event”. He reported as the mayor in view of the rise in energy prices in the wake of the Russian war of aggression on Facebook complained about a “systematic plundering of the people”. and accused the government of “abandoning and betraying its people”. He reported, when Weigelt wrote in the official gazette against compulsory vaccination.
He asked when Thomas Weigelt invited a presumed Reich citizen to an official reception in the New Castle last weekend. He filmed when the mayor appeared at the Bad Lobenstein market festival in conversation with the controversial guest and an AfD politician.
The mayor writes of “feud” that he did not touch the reporter
The video shared by a colleague of Hagens on Twitter shows how Thomas Weigelt rushes towards the reporter, reaches into his camera and presses him so hard that he falls to the ground. During the attack, the newspaper reported later, Hagen injured his elbow and his equipment damaged. The journalist had to be treated as an outpatient in the hospital. Hagen could not initially be reached for a conversation.
Bad Lobenstein’s mayor is now faced with a complaint on suspicion of bodily harm and damage to property. He does not allow himself to be asked personally about what is happening. The mayor is out of the house all day, according to the city administration. In response to e-mails, a statement was issued in which Weigelt denied the attack, Hagens described the reporting as “provocation”, and there was talk of a “feud” between the newspaper editor and the mayor. Again and again the journalist let his “personal dislike” flow into the reporting.
The mayor, on the other hand, only wants to have raised his hands defensively at the market festival. “I didn’t touch Mr. Hagen,” Weigelt is quoted in the letter. “I treat everyone calmly and kindly. It’s unfortunate if they don’t know how to behave in return.” The reporter’s footage leaves a different impression on many people.
State politicians call on Weigelt to resign
Bodo Ramelow (left) reacted first and outraged. “A mayor attacks a journalist personally and physically. Something like that just doesn’t work!” Tweeted Thuringia’s Prime Minister. The unacceptable action must be punished. Since then, several state politicians and the German Association of Journalists have called on the mayor to resign. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) also condemned the attack. “Fear, intimidation and violence should never be used as a means of conflict,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Thomas Weigelt has repeatedly been accused in the past of not living up to his post. Weigelt’s Facebook comments are currently being dealt with by the local authority. All incidents are collected and further steps are checked, according to the authority. In July a voting procedure against the mayor failed at the necessary quorum.
For Tino Zippel, the deputy editor-in-chief of the East Thuringian newspaper, it is certain that one will not be intimidated. “There is no feud with the mayor,” he says. “If you take local reporting seriously, it’s completely normal to ask questions, including critical ones. And that’s exactly what we will continue to do.”