Johann Guntermann, the 31-year-old head of the left-wing extremist group known as the “Hammer Gang,” has been arrested by German police after being apprehended near Jena, southwest of Leipzig.
According to the Bild tabloid newspaper, Guntermann, one of Germany’s most wanted left-wing extremists, was detained by a special mobile task force from the Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) following months of intensive tracking by investigators, state security, and the LKA’s special commission on left-wing extremism, known as Soko Linx.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster hailed the arrest as an “outstanding success,” noting that Guntermann, who had multiple outstanding arrest warrants, was a “central figure” in investigations into violent left-wing extremism in Germany and wider Europe.
The Federal Prosecutor General had previously issued a €10,000 reward for information leading to Guntermann’s capture, who is accused of orchestrating attacks targeting political opponents and law enforcement. The group’s most high-profile member is Lina E., Guntermann’s former fiancée, who was sentenced in May 2023 by the Dresden Higher Regional Court to a lengthy prison term along with three accomplices.
Guntermann’s criminal history includes violent incidents dating back to 2018, when he was sentenced to 19 months in prison for a breach of the peace after an attack on Leipzig’s district court. Known for his distinctive “HATE” and “COPS” tattoos on his fingers, Guntermann remained active in extremist circles, evading law enforcement since going underground in 2020.
His most recent alleged involvement was in a February 2023 attack in Budapest, Hungary, during a gathering of right-wing activists, where Guntermann and others reportedly assaulted several people they mistakenly believed to be attendees, causing serious injuries.
Saxony investigators reportedly identified Guntermann from video footage of the Budapest incident, prompting intensified efforts to locate and detain him.
Remix News previously reported that, among other crimes, he is wanted for posing as a masked anti-fascist police officer in Eilengurg and then Erfurt in 2021 and torturing his victims, including a pregnant woman, in their own homes.
Authorities are also pursuing Guntermann’s current girlfriend, Emilie Dieckmann, a 21-year-old left-wing extremist who is suspected of participating in the Budapest attacks alongside him and remains at large.
In April, German police officers descended on several properties linked to the gang in the city of Leipzig, including the office of local Green Party city councilor, Jürgen Kasek, who has previously been accused of sympathizing with the extremist group.
Earlier this year, one of the group was sentenced to three years in a Hungarian prison for his involvement in the brutal beatings in Budapest, while last June a Dresden court sentenced one of the ringleaders, Lina Engel, to five years and three months in prison with three of her associates receiving lesser sentences.
