“Unconventional thinker” scene: daily calls to kill on Telegram

In Germany, alleged individual cases of calls for killing from the lateral thinker scene have been discussed for days. Research now shows that there have been calls to kill every day since mid-November.

A Bundeswehr soldier who wants to spread corpses over fields, a group of Saxons who are making plans to kill their prime minister. An evaluation in secret and open Telegram chat groups shows that since mid-November there have been daily calls to kill people from politics, science, medicine, authorities and the media on Telegram – and anti-vaccination opponents are evidently becoming increasingly radicalized. More than 250 calls for killing were found in the examined chat rooms.

However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Telegram – unlike Twitter – cannot be completely searched, only the channels and chats of which you are a member. Most chat groups are secret and can only be entered with an invitation link. Only on three days at the beginning of November could no call to death be found in the examined chat rooms without a gallows, guillotine or rope for politicians, scientists, doctors, police officers or journalists.

There is hardly any contradiction

Often the calls to kill were even circulated under the presumably real name. Even in large chats with over 50,000 members, there was almost never any contradiction; rather, the calling people were confirmed in their opinion and a gallows or a sniper rifle were left in the comments.

Political scientist Josef Holnburger from the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMas) considers the calls for murder to be dangerous. In conversation with tagesschau.de he says: “People with a conspiratorial ideological view of the world are more willing to use violence – we have known that from previous research, and have done so for several years.” There is seldom a contradiction in the scene, “also because one wants to convey the image of a uniform movement”.

For example, on December 31st, Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer said: “Kretschmer and his mercenaries [Anm. der Redaktion: Polizisten] belong executed [sic!] because of high treason to the people! “In another chat on December 21, a user asks whether he can” shoot “Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP).

But not only Kretschmer and Buschmann are victims of these unrestrained calls for violence, also Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), CDU boss Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), ex-Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) and the incumbent Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) ) are sometimes mentioned more than once.

Appeals for killing have increased since the debate about compulsory vaccination

The evaluation and documentation of the comments shows that calls for killing have increased significantly, especially from mid-November. After November 16, there was not a day without killing fantasies in the examined channels. Around the same time, the debate about mandatory vaccination began and Google is also increasingly being searched for the term during this period.

It is also noticeable in the analysis that more than a third of the hate comments come from two large Telegram chat rooms in which the followers of Q-Anon and other conspiracy legends exchange ideas. The mood there is particularly aggressive and seemingly completely unrestrained. These two groups call for human death more than 100 times.

Appeals for violence from alleged soldiers

A Telegram chat, in which alleged soldiers and reservists exchange information, also attracts attention due to the frequent calls to kill. The almost 20 calls for the killing of other people shows that the call of the mountain hunter Andreas O., which became known at the end of December, is not an isolated case.

In a video, the soldier from Bad Reichenhall threatened: “Your corpses will be distributed in fields.” In the “Soldiers & Reservists” group on Telegram, for example, on November 15, it was said about the then Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU): “The old woman should be shot.”

Hatred of media

But not only politicians are threatened. A Telegram chat group also said of a science journalist who was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit last year: “One day we will hang her too […]. “In a post that was attached to the threat, the journalist and presenter had spoken out in favor of compulsory vaccination.

It was not until Monday evening that hundreds of people gathered in front of the ZDF capital city studio in Berlin and shouted “Liar press” slogans. According to a “Tagesspiegel” reporter, the building had to be protected by a police chain.

“Traitor to the gallows”

The hatred of the media can also be found on Telegram. One user wrote on November 5th: “Maybe we should really burn down ARD and ZDF to destroy their media propaganda machine.” Another user asks on December 11th: “Why aren’t the media on yet, I mean the buildings […] where the dirt is broadcast? “An article in the” Süddeutsche Zeitung “is commented on with:” Make the propaganda shop level with the ground. Traitor to the gallows “.

Political scientist Holnburger explains that people who believe in conspiracies, who see the media as part of a small group, have conspired to have an “absolutely malicious goal”. “Accordingly, it is unfortunately not surprising that such demonstrations are currently taking place in front of media companies,” said Holnburger.

However, doctors are even more of a focus than the media. “I hope they hang them all up,” writes user “Gisela” about a pediatrician who is vaccinating. Another Telegram user writes about a doctor: “That should be a bullet in the head.”

On Tuesday also became knownthat the LKA in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is investigating in connection with a death threat addressed to Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). This was also disseminated via Telegram.