Police murder in Georgensgmünd 2016

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 14 ″  N , 11 ° 0 ′ 22 ″  E

Relief Map: Germany
marker
crime scene​
Magnify-clip.png
Germany
East view of the crime scene property eight and a half months after the incident

A police officer was murdered on October 19, 2016 in Georgensgmünd , Bavaria .

An officer of the Special Operations Command (SEK) North Bavaria of the Bavarian Police was shot by a supporter of the Reich Citizens Movement and three other officers were shot. The case was picked up by the European media because of the political background and sparked a nationwide discussion about the connection between the “Reich Citizens' Movement” and active right-wing extremism and its surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution .

Course of action

After the withdrawal of the weapons permit of Wolfgang plan the stored at his house weapons should be confiscated. The police saw a particular threat and so the SEK of the Bavarian police was deployed. At 6 o'clock on the morning of October 19, 2016, the SEK broke into the house of the "Reichsbürger". The police had previously deliberately drawn attention to themselves with blue lights and a siren to prevent Wolfgang P. believing that burglars wanted to break into his house early in the morning, says Central Franconia's police chief Johann Rast. The man was in a locked room upstairs with weapons at hand. Like the officers deployed, he wore a bullet-resistant vest . He immediately opened fire on the officers through a closed door with a handgun . As a result, there was an exchange of fire in which four police officers were injured. A 32-year-old officer was injured so badly that he died of gunshot wounds in the early hours of the following day (October 20, 2016). One officer was hit in the upper arm and two other officers were injured by broken glass. The SEK was able to arrest the man after the exchange of fire.

background

The man (born in 1967) in Georgensgmünd , Franconia, known as a supporter of the “Reich Citizens Movement” , legally owned 31 weapons. According to statements by representatives of the community, the man had wanted to give up his passport in January 2016 and give up his citizenship. A short time later, according to information from the Berliner Tagesspiegel , he informed the District Office of Roth that he no longer belonged to any community, reported his residence and had "moved to an unknown" although he was the owner of the house and continued to live there. He dismantled his mailbox. In the spring of 2016, he finally canceled his business: he ran a small martial arts studio in the village, in which he had also offered violence prevention courses.

At about the same time, Wolfgang P. placed a newspaper advertisement in which he rejected the Basic Law . He later refused to allow employees of the district office to enter his house and refused to inspect his weapons, the Bavarian Interior Minister Herrmann later reported. The man should finally hand over his legally acquired weapons "because the impression of unreliability has increasingly emerged," said Herrmann.

The Nuremberg right-wing extremism expert Birgit Mair classified the man as "extreme right". On Facebook he was friends with a speaker and organizer from “ Pegida Nürnberg” ( Nügida ). This offshoot of the xenophobic “citizens' movement” is classified as right-wing extremist and is being observed by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution . According to Mair, the man's Facebook profile looks confused. Among other things, the man had shared a photo montage calling for members of the federal government to be hanged, it also includes anti-Semitic allusions and conspiracy theories about Jews.

According to media reports, the Bavarian investigation and prosecution authorities took into account an incident in Saxony-Anhalt in the summer of 2016 when they proceeded in Georgensgmünd . In the municipality of Elsteraue on August 25, 2016, the "Reichsbürger" Adrian Ursprung shot at the SEK of the Saxony-Anhalt police in order to prevent the eviction of his property. Cause had previously claimed to have founded the fantasy state "Ur" on this property.

Investigations

The Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor took over the investigation. On October 20, 2016, the man's arrest warrant was issued for murder in unity with attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. The Schwabach criminal police set up a Soko "Reichsbürger".

On October 24, 2016, a man was temporarily arrested by the SEK in connection with the "Reichsbürger" from Georgensgmünd in Forchheim, Upper Franconia . The Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor's office had also applied for an arrest warrant against him. He was released on October 27th. An apartment in the town was also searched and a mobile home was seized.

On the same day in Franconia a man found several boxes with ammunition and several rifles on the district road RH 1 near Oberfichtenmühle / Holzgut on the edge of the forest near Hagershof . The Kripo Schwabach was able to assign the weapons to the arrested man from Georgensgmünd without any doubt.

At the end of November 2016, the police in Franconia released two officers with immediate effect. The Oberkommissar and the Hauptkommissar were suspended from duty because they had contact with Wolfgang P. , announced the Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor and the Central Franconian police headquarters . According to the investigators, both were members of a WhatsApp group to which the perpetrator belonged, and they may also have had personal contact with him. According to the public prosecutor, the evaluation of the chat history showed that one of the police officers may have passed on official secrets to the Reich citizen. "It was found that the suspect from Georgensgmünd was interrogated and informed," said the public prosecutor. Both police officers were searched. The public prosecutor's office is investigating one of the two police officers for “aiding and abetting manslaughter by failure”. Although he knew it, he had not informed his colleagues that Wolfgang P. was violently and heavily armed.

process

Almost half a year after the crime, the Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor brought charges against the shooter Wolfgang P. in April 2017, accusing him of murder and attempted murder, among other things. According to the public prosecutor's office, P. expected the police operation and had prepared accordingly. Because of this, she saw the characteristics of murder as treacherous and base motives.

The Landgericht Nürnberg-Fürth condemned Wolfgang P. on 23 October 2017 for murder and two counts of attempted murder to life imprisonment. The Chamber did not see any particular severity of guilt. This means that P. can be released early from prison. His lawyer announced that she would go into appeal.

On February 5, 2019, the Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeal.

The public prosecutor's office also brought charges against a police commissioner. The officer is said to have known about the man's possession of weapons and his contacts with other Reich citizens, but to have taken nothing. Before the SEK operation, the man had therefore had a cell phone chat with Wolfgang P. The accused officer was suspended from duty in mid-November 2016. According to the public prosecutor's office, the police officer was obliged to report his findings. Possibly the shooting could have been prevented. However, the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court rejected this charge in June 2017 and returned the case to the public prosecutor.

Reactions

The willingness of the "Reichsbürger" to use violence, which cost an official his life, sparked a political debate about how to evaluate and deal with the so-called "Reichsbürgerbewegung".

Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) spoke of "terrible news" and instructed the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to review its previous ratings of the "Reich citizens". The interior minister of Bavaria Joachim Herrmann (CSU) announced that all “Reich citizens” who legally owned a weapon should now be withdrawn. There was criticism from the Bundestag that the review announced by de Maizere had not taken place earlier. Uli Grötsch (SPD) said: “We finally have to call it by name: They are tough neo-Nazis, nothing else.” This means that all “citizens of the Reich”, like all other right-wing extremists, would have their weapons withdrawn immediately.

Representatives of the police union described the attack as the sad climax of the absurd activities of the "Reich Citizens' Movement" and reiterated the demands of the union to put Reich citizens in their place nationwide with all the harshness of the law with all the means available to the state.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not yet meet the requirements for monitoring despite the political demands. According to a report by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , the "Reich Citizens' Movement" is likely not to be monitored, as some of the members across Germany are not harmless, but not all of them are actually right-wing extremists.

On the other hand, Burkhard Körner , President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Bavarian State Office, stated that the observation of the Reich citizen scene had already been intensified in the months before the crime and that this path would be pursued with even greater emphasis. The scene is gaining momentum and the clearly right-wing extremist parts are trying to become bigger and more powerful. When observing individual people, the focus of the office is mainly on those who are to be classified as violence-oriented and on the weapons law permits of this group of people.

The case also drew attention to "Reich citizens" in the civil service. Several police officers throughout Germany with the appropriate attitude were checked and in some cases suspended. The domestic political spokeswoman for the Greens in Bavaria, Katharina Schulze, criticized the fact that the CSU interior minister was only able to find out after the act of violence that there were such “right-wing nationalist fanatics” in the Bavarian police. It must now be clarified whether there are also "Reich citizens" in other areas, for example in the Bavarian penal system.

The officer killed came from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania; the Bavarian police and the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania police wore black ribbon on all vehicles until the burial of the official .

On October 29, 2016, an ecumenical funeral service took place in the Lorenz Church in Nuremberg with regional bishop Elisabeth Hann von Weyhern for the murdered police officer. More than 1000 officials from all over Germany took part in the service, as well as the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann, State Police President Wilhelm Schmidbauer, the Central Franconian Police President Johann Rast, delegations from police associations from all over Germany and neighboring countries ( RAID and others). On the occasion of the memorial service, mourning flags were ordered on all state service buildings in Bavaria.

At the same time as the service began, all police officers on duty observed a minute's silence. To do this, they drove to the side of the road and switched on the blue light.

After the death

An SEC official who was involved in the police operation in Georgensgmünd, committed on 27 January 2017 suicide .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Germany shootings: 'Far-right gunman' injures Bavaria police . In: BBC News . October 19, 2016 ( bbc.com [accessed October 21, 2016]). Fire questions about the political situation of the høyreekstremist. - Citizens of the Reich blir ikke avvist som en group «Galninger» . In: Dagbladet.no . October 19, 2016 ( dagbladet.no [accessed October 22, 2016]). Julien Licourt: Allemagne: qui sont les «Citoyens du Reich»? In: Le Figaro . October 20, 2016, ISSN 0182-5852 ( lefigaro.fr [accessed October 22, 2016]). Germany: mort d'un policier blessé par un membre des «citoyens du Reich» . In: Le Monde.fr . October 19, 2016, ISSN 1950-6244 ( lemonde.fr [accessed October 22, 2016]). fgordon: Un ultraderechista here a cuatro policías en un tiroteo en Alemania . In: Panamá América . October 19, 2016 ( com.pa [accessed October 22, 2016]). Cuatro policías heridos por un militante de extrema derecha en Alemania - SWI swissinfo.ch . In: SWI swissinfo.ch . ( swissinfo.ch [accessed on October 22, 2016]). Un ultraderechista here a cuatro policías en un tiroteo en Alemania . In: abc . October 19, 2016 ( abc.es [accessed October 22, 2016]). German police officer shot dead by “Reichsbürger” ( memento from October 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Policía corrije que agente herido por neonazi “no ha muerto” - Alemania. In: itapunta.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016 ; accessed on October 22, 2016 .

     
     




  2. ↑ Georgensgmünd: "Reich Citizens" were considered harmless . In: The time . October 20, 2016, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 21, 2016]).
  3. ^ "Reichsbürger" hoarded 31 weapons in his apartment . In: BZ . October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ Poliser skjutna i Tyskland - Nyheter (Ekot). In: Sveriges Radio. Retrieved October 22, 2016 (Swedish).
  5. ↑ a b Who is the "Reichsbürger" from Middle Franconia? In: Augsburger Allgemeine. Retrieved October 31, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Police officers shot by right-wing extremist in Germany. In: The Independent. October 19, 2016, accessed October 21, 2016 .
  7. ↑ "Reichsbürger" shoots down police officers. Retrieved October 27, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Frank Jansen: Who are the citizens of the Reich and what they want . In: Der Tagesspiegel . October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  9. ↑ a b "Reichsbürger" Wolfgang P .: "There was no cause for concern". In: Spiegel Online. Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  10. ^ Shooting in Georgensgmünd from October 19, 2016: Chronology of the events. In: BR Mediathek Video. Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Georgensgmünd: "Reich Citizens" were considered harmless. In: The time. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Judith Dauwalter, Carlo Schindhelm, Simone Schülein: SEK deployment Forchheim: connection with “Reich citizens”. In: BR.de. October 25, 2016, archived from the original on October 26, 2017 .;
  13. ↑ After weapons and ammunition found. Police are looking for witnesses in the "Reich Citizen" case. In: Bayerischer Rundfunk. October 28, 2016, archived from the original on October 25, 2017 ; accessed on October 28, 2016 .
  14. ^ Albert Schäffer: Reich Citizens in Bavaria An abyss of police betrayal . In: FAZ . 23rd November 2016.
  15. ↑ Fatal shots in Georgensgmünd Police suspended because of contact with "Reichsbürger" . In: Spiegel Online .
  16. ^ Shootings in Georgensgmünd. Police officer is said to have betrayed official secrets to "Reichsbürger" . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . 23rd November 2016.
  17. ↑ Fatal shots in Georgensgmünd. Police suspended because of contact with "Reichsbürger" . In: Spiegel Online . 23rd November 2016.
  18. ^ Fatal shots from Georgensgmünd. "Reichsbürger" contacted police officers . In: N-TV . 23rd November 2016.
  19. ^ Franconia: Police officers had contact with citizens of the Reich . In: The time . November 23, 2016, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed November 24, 2016]).
  20. ^ Rainer Aul, Bayerischer Rundfunk: "Reichsbürger" von Georgensgmünd: Investigations against police officers are ongoing | BR.de . January 23, 2017 ( archive.org [accessed October 24, 2017]).
  21. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: "Reichsbürger" sentenced to life imprisonment . In: sueddeutsche.de . ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on October 23, 2017]).
  22. ↑ https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/reichsbuerger-fall-georgensgmuend-bgh-WEIS-revision-zurueck,RHD1Cpa
  23. ^ "Reichsbürger" accused of murdering police officers . In: sueddeutsche.de . April 4, 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on July 23, 2017]).
  24. ^ Bayerischer Rundfunk: Reich Citizen Georgensgmünd: No Trial Against Police Officers | BR.de . June 21, 2017 ( archive.org [accessed September 4, 2017]).
  25. ↑ Konrad Litschko: Political discussion about "Reichsbürger": "Hard-hitting neo-Nazis, nothing else" . In: the daily newspaper . ( taz.de [accessed on October 21, 2016]).
  26. ↑ https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-224865.html
  27. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine: Bavaria's protection of the constitution wants to monitor “Reich citizens” more intensively . In: Augsburger Allgemeine . ( augsburger-allgemeine.de [accessed October 24, 2016]).
  28. ^ N-tv news television: Not "on the ground of the Basic Law": Berlin police released "Reichsbürger" . In: n-tv.de . ( n-tv.de [accessed on October 27, 2016]).
  29. ↑ Another "Reichsbürger" suspended by the police . In: http://www.az-online.de . October 21, 2016 ( az-online.de [accessed October 27, 2016]).
  30. ↑ After the SEK mission: A policeman shot by Reichsbürger comes from MV | Nordkurier.de . ( nordkurier.de [accessed on October 22, 2016]).
  31. ^ Ostsee-Zeitung GmbH & Co. KG: Berlin / Grabow - Shots by "Reichsbürger": Dead policeman is from MV - OZ - Ostsee-Zeitung. In: www.ostsee-zeitung.de. Retrieved October 22, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Killed SEK official: funeral service and minute of silence. In: Experience Würzburg. October 28, 2016, accessed October 31, 2016 .
  33. ↑ Andreas Ebert, Bayerischer Rundfunk: After Reich Citizens Attack: Memorial Service for Killed Policemen | BR.de . October 29, 2016 ( br.de [accessed September 9, 2019]).
  34. ↑ spiegel.de January 28, 2017: Soko "Reichsbürger" takes over the investigation