Dozens raided over hate comments on slain German politician

Dozens raided over hate comments on slain German politician


2 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators on Thursday carried out raids on dozens of people suspected of posting hate messages about a regional politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party who was killed last year.

Walter Luebcke, who led the regional administration in the central Kassel region, was shot on his porch on June 1, 2019, and died later that night. His killing sparked widespread outrage in Germany and warnings about the growing danger of violent far-right extremism.

A man with previous convictions for a string of violent anti-migrant crimes has been charged with murder in the case. Prosecutors say that he attended an October 2015 town hall event where Luebcke defended the German government’s decision to allow hundreds of thousands of refugees into the country. A video of Luebcke’s remarks was widely shared in far-right circles, drawing numerous threats.

Frankfurt prosecutors said that authorities in 12 of Germany's 16 states conducted searches and questioning of 40 people suspected of posting “criminally relevant comments” about Luebcke, largely on various social media networks. The action was the result of an investigation launched in September.

They are being investigated on suspicion of offenses including public incitement to commit crimes, endorsing crimes and disparaging the memory of the dead.

Prosecutors in Bavaria, where seven of the suspects live, said the comments were posted both before and after Luebcke's death.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent Politics stories

Related topics

Politics
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast