The longest day of the year is followed by the shortest night, it’s always like that. But this time, the night of June 22 is particularly short for many in Munich. At 3 a.m., eight police vehicles were on fire on Hochstrasse in der Au. Sirens wake the residents from their sleep, later the rattling of helicopter noise is added. When day breaks and the first pictures circulate, white extinguishing foam contrasts with the black of the charred team buses. Scorched hard hats and safety vests lie on the ground. Police officers block the street, secure evidence, discuss. Everything points to arson. Fire broke out in several vehicles that are not directly next to each other.
Police spokesman Andreas Franken says: “Of course we assume that this is a fire offense related to the G 7 meeting, since the forces for this operation were here in Munich.” The summit of the leading western economic powers, which is to meet on Sunday under the leadership of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, will be secured by a large police force. As always, there are massive protests against the meeting of heads of state and government. A large demonstration is registered for Saturday in Munich, to which demonstrators from all over Germany and parts of Europe are expected.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said on Monday that she saw no specific threat to the summit. The conference venue is already hermetically sealed off. The officers of the federal riot police, who are staying in a hotel not far from the crime scene on Hochstrasse, are also supposed to go there. Faeser expects activities more from the left-wing extremist side, but they are not excluded from the Corona demonstrators or in connection with the war in Ukraine. Manfred Hauser, police chief of Upper Bavaria and head of the task force at the summit, demonstrates his composure: “The incident did not surprise us,” he claims. Franz Haslbeck from the protest alliance “Stop G 7 Elmau” distanced himself quickly and clearly. He assumes that no organization from the alliance is involved in the arson attack in Munich. Haslbeck emphasizes that “Stop G 7 Elmau” stands for peaceful protest.
The Munich police suspect the perpetrators in the left-wing extremist spectrum. The investigations are being carried out by Criminal Division 43, which is responsible for politically motivated crimes, at state security, supported by fire experts from Commissariat 13. “Every attack on the police is an attack on our constitutional state,” emphasizes the chairman of the police union (GdP), Oliver Malchow. According to initial estimates, the damage amounts to several hundred thousand euros. Expensive equipment in the vehicles is also destroyed in the fire, which a hotel employee is the first to notice and which the fire brigade quickly gets under control after they arrive. At least there are no injuries. Local residents report popping noises, but these are only tire bursts.
Despite the deployment of 20 patrol cars and several helicopters, the search for the perpetrators was initially unsuccessful, the police hoped that witnesses would come forward. Forensic scientists are trying to determine exactly where and how the fires were started. The area around the crime scene on the edge of the right Isar high bank is confusing, it may have given the strangers an advantage when escaping. Police spokesman Franken said the police car had been parked “not too long” on Hochstrasse. He doesn’t want to say much more. Just that you want to take “appropriate measures” so that something like this doesn’t happen again. “These are not pictures that the Munich police like to see,” says Franken. “We will use this incident to sensitize our forces. And that will of course be included in our police deployment tactics.” Is the area around the quarters where police officers are housed for the G-7 operation now guarded at night? No comment.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) stressed a short time later that further similar attacks could not be generally ruled out in the coming days. “Unfortunately, these are not all pipe dreams, but real dangers.” The incident reminded everyone to be extra vigilant. Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) says: “If this was intended as a protest against the G-7 meeting, then I’ll say quite clearly to the perpetrators: Violence is not a form of political debate. Violence against the state, against the police is not acceptable procedure and not a substitute for arguments.”
The fire in the police buses in Munich is not the first incident related to the G-7 meeting at Schloss Elmau. The day before, some dangerous manipulations of power distribution boxes became known within the security area around the conference venue. Smearings are also spotted, such as “Move G 7” and “No G 7”. In Munich, the lettering “Attack war profiteers” is emblazoned on the headquarters of the armaments company MTU in Allach. And a banner is waving from a construction crane: “Save the climate. Fight imperialism. Stop the G7.”
Calculated from Wednesday, there are still three nights left until the big demonstration, which starts on Saturday on the Theresienwiese and is then supposed to move through the city centre. You may seem particularly long to the police.