Idar-Oberstein: The suspect was probably under the influence of alcohol


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Status: 04.10.2021 4:28 p.m.

On September 18, the mask refuser Mario N. is said to have shot the cashier Alex W. at a gas station in Idar-Obarstein. The alleged perpetrator stood after research by Report Mainz apparently under the influence of alcohol.

By Eric Beres, Mona Botros, Sara Rainer-Esderts, SWR

The alleged perpetrator of Idar-Oberstein, Mario N., who ran the cashier Alex W. should have shot, was apparently under the influence of alcohol during his act. This was confirmed by the press spokesman for the responsible public prosecutor in Bad Kreuznach, Kai Fuhrmann, at the request of Report Mainz: “There are indications that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol.” At the moment, however, it is unclear what blood alcohol level is involved and what role the influence of alcohol played in the act. The reason: There was a lack of objective evidence such as a blood sample. Mario N. had only turned himself in to the police the day after his act. A reviewer will deal with the question of Mario N.’s influence on alcohol, said Fuhrmann. However, there are no indications that this was also under the influence of narcotics.

According to information from Report Mainz Mario N. is said to have visited numerous channels of so-called lateral thinkers and corona deniers on the Telegram platform since the beginning of the pandemic. On request, the public prosecutor in Bad Kreuznach announced that the alleged perpetrator’s internet activities were still being evaluated. So far, among other things, it had become known that Mario N. had commented on Twitter until 2019.

Vaccination opponents and lateral thinker scene more and more radical

Nationwide there are indications that the corona denier scene is becoming more and more radical. Christina Bleisinger, an SPD mayor from Simmertal, which is only 25 kilometers from Idar-Oberstein, resigned a few weeks ago.

In the spring, so-called Tuesday strollers began protests against the corona measures. The mayor did not want to accept this and organized counter-demonstrations. That is why, according to her own account, she became a target herself, especially on the Internet. Eventually she resigned from office. After the death of the gas station cashier Alex W., the threats took on a new quality: “I fear that Idar-Oberstein will not remain an isolated case if people no longer concern themselves with the dangers posed by this movement of lateral thinkers,” said Bleisinger.

This is also how the specialist information center for right-wing extremism in Munich sees it. Since the beginning of the pandemic, she has been documenting demonstrations by the lateral thinker scene. The development in the past few months is particularly worrying. An employee, who wants to remain anonymous for security reasons, reports: “They are getting fewer, but those who are still on the streets are desperate, have broken with their families, and in some cases have no friends anymore. The radicalization expresses itself in this sense that one incites, for example, against the state, against the police, against the classic enemy images such as the press and politicians. “

Vaccination under police protection

With the vaccinations of children, schools in particular are increasingly being targeted by protests. Just four days after the Idar-Oberstein attack, there was a demonstration by vaccination critics at a Munich high school.

The headmistress and several colleagues report “massive attempts at intimidation” on the part of the protesters. For example, anti-vaccination campaigners would have cornered a schoolgirl in the area of ​​the vaccination campaign. Some demonstrators even had to be escorted from the school premises by civilian police officers. A few days after the attack in Idar-Oberstein, around 100 demonstrators also gathered for a vaccination campaign at a school in Freiburg.

Prosecutor’s investigation into threats

Public prosecutors are investigating threats against the school management and teachers in several places, for example in the case of a school in Altenholz near Kiel. In a statement, the Kiel Public Prosecutor Henning Hadeler announced: “There was a call in a chat group to the death of the school management and teachers and this in connection with the mask requirement and the vaccination.”

National action plan required

In an interview with Report Mainz Andreas Zick, Professor of Socialization and Conflict Research at the University of Bielefeld, rates the situation as worrying: “My conclusion is that we now have new extremist milieus that are highly violence-oriented. We made the mistake of talking to each other at the beginning We have, after all, citizens whose opinions we have to listen to and who have nothing to do with extremism. In other words, in this movement we have had this moment of belittling, which makes any form of prevention impossible. We need one new national action plan for dealing with extremism. Everything has to be on the agenda. We need – that is what all the victims say – more law enforcement. And we need a lot more analysis of the dynamics. “

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