The Munich police searched three apartments at the Olympiapark, in Giesing and in the community of Unterschleißheim in the district of Munich in the morning hours. The accused are accused of posting anti-Semitic or seditious remarks on the Internet. The officers seized computers, laptops, and cell phones. Investigators across Bavaria carried out search warrants against a total of 23 suspects, including suspects from the districts of Ebersberg, Erding, Freising and Fürstenfeldbruck.
In close consultation with the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism (ZET) at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Munich, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office coordinated the operational measures. In one of the Munich cases, the anti-Semitism officer of the Bavarian judiciary, Chief Public Prosecutor Andreas Franck, was involved. He accompanied the search operation at the Olympic Park.
“Hate on the net endangers the democratic society. Inhuman agitation must be pursued consistently and the author identified. The often racist, anti-Semitic or misogynistic hatred is a serious threat,” said Harald Pickert, President of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, in a first statement this morning.
“Posting criminal hate comments is not a trivial offense. There are serious consequences,” emphasized Chief Public Prosecutor Klaus-Dieter Hartleb, Hate Speech Officer of the Bavarian Justice. More than ten criminal offenses, from insulting to threats to sedition, can be fulfilled in individual cases. Even the apparent anonymity of the Telegram messenger service does not protect against criminal prosecution: On this platform, the 62-year-old suspect from the Olympic Park in a group of corona deniers abused a Bavarian politician with anti-Semitic abuse.
The Bavaria-wide raid against the authors of right-wing hate postings is part of a nationwide day of action that is being carried out for the seventh time. According to the coordinating Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the assassination attempt on the Kassel regional president Walter Lübcke or the attack on the synagogue in Halle show “what can happen when perpetrators radicalize themselves on the Internet and the hatred turns into physical violence”. That is why the police and public prosecutors struck in all federal states at the same time in the morning. The BKA lists a total of 90 police measures, including house searches and interrogations.
The number of cases of hate postings recorded by the police showed another sharp increase in 2020. Last year the police registered 2607 cases of hate postings, 71.1 percent more cases than in 2019. In addition, according to the BKA, a large number of unreported cases can be assumed. Because many posts relevant to criminal law are not displayed or expressed in closed forums and discussion groups.
Last year the police in Munich registered 426 hate crimes, an increase of a good 38 percent. In almost every third case, the “crime scene” was the Internet. 90 percent of the perpetrators could be assigned to the right-wing spectrum. The investigators classified 71 acts in the area of hate crime as anti-Jewish.