Kretschmer in sight
Telegram death threats, cashed crossbows: What we know about the raid in Dresden
Police officers lead a suspect out of a house entrance during a raid in the Pieschen district of Dresden
© Sebastian Kahnert / DPA
For a few weeks now, murder plans have been forged against the Prime Minister of Saxony in a Telegram group. Now, in a major raid in Dresden, several apartments were searched – and various weapons were found.
What effects hatred and agitation on the Internet can have on real life was clearly shown on Wednesday in Dresden. After death threats against Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU), which were distributed via the Telegram messenger service, a large-scale police raid had been taking place there since that morning. During the searches, the officers found several weapons, five men and one woman are the focus of the investigation.
“After the first inspection, the initial suspicion is confirmed,” tweeted the Police Saxony. Just last week, the ZDF magazine “Frontal” revealed in a report the anti-vaccination plans against the Saxon Prime Minister.
Planned murder against Kretschmer in Telegram group
A research team from “Frontal“Already a few weeks ago smuggled into the Telegram group” Dresden Offline Networking “. There are more than 100 people who rage against the Corona measures and the vaccination and who participated in the demonstration in front of the Reichstag. Many believe Corona is only flu and Germany became a dictatorship.
The driving force is the chat administrator, who announces via voice message: “I would also go to extremes if I have to.” According to the research, the hard core, which is also ready to use violence, meets several times in real life. Then the group announced that they had discussed plans to commit murder against Prime Minister Kretschmer at the offline meeting. The administrator specifies: “Invade the guy, pull the guy out of there and hang it up somewhere.”
After a confrontation by “Frontal”, the Telegram channel can no longer be viewed by the public. The administrator has set it to private. The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Criminal Police Office of Saxony then start the investigation.
Weapons confiscated during raid in Dresden
Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. Around 140 police officers and special forces comb through six objects – mainly apartments – in Dresden and the nearby town of Heidenau. The raid is currently directed against six suspects who are suspected of preparing a serious criminal offense, said the LKA-Speaker Tom Bernhardt in the afternoon. The suspects include five men and one woman, ages 32 to 64. In addition, crossbows, other weapons and weapon parts were confiscated during the large-scale operation.
Kretschmer himself reacted with relief. “I am glad that the rule of law in the Free State has shown today how defensive it is,” said the Prime Minister during a visit to the Leipzig vaccination center. “Threats against public officials, be it mayors, municipal and district administrators, scientists or journalists, are unacceptable, will not be tolerated and will be pursued with all their might.” He also announced additional staff “for the fight against extremists”. Everyone should know that in Saxony and Germany you can of course express your opinion – even what you don’t like. “But when violence comes into play, a limit has been crossed, which we will not tolerate”. “
The raid is also a success for Saxony’s Interior Minister Roland Wöller (CDU). “It is a clear signal: the rule of law is capable of acting,” said Wöller of the German press agency. Closed chat groups are not an anonymous space for preparing criminal offenses and do not protect against criminal prosecution. The LKA had tracked down the perpetrators of the chat group, although this had already been deleted. “Telegram must not be a legal vacuum in which violent right-wing extremists can commit crimes unmolested.”
“Bloody” resistance to politicians
Another bizarre case from Berlin on Wednesday showed that Kretschmer is not an isolated case: Several high-ranking politicians, media and institutions received threatening letters with pieces of meat. First had that ARD capital studio and the ARD political magazine “Kontraste” reported about it. The pieces of meat wrapped in aluminum foil were therefore labeled with the information that they were “infected with radiating Covid-19 viruses and Zyklon B”. The resistance to the Corona measures and the compulsory vaccination will be “bloody and unsavory,” it said.
According to the police, laboratory analyzes by the LKA have shown that the meat is harmless. For reasons of tactical investigations, the police initially did not want to say who the sender of the letters could be. As a spokeswoman said, around a dozen proceedings were initiated on Wednesday for disturbing the public peace and threatening criminal offenses.
After the torchlight in front of the house of the Saxon Minister of Health Petra Köpping and the death threats against Prime Minister Kretschmer, the threatening letters from Berlin are only the latest proof of how much parts of the anti-corona movement have radicalized. The protest movement has mobilized anew, in particular, the tightened 2G measures and the planned mandatory vaccination. Opaque chat services like Telegram provide a dangerous breeding ground for hatred and agitation.
Sources: “ZDF Frontal“,”Police Saxony“,”ARD“, with DPA material