A Dresden court delivered on Wednesday the verdict in the trial of the leader of the Hammerbande, a violent far-left Antifa group known for attacking right-wing activists as well as random innocents with hammers. The judge sentenced Lina Engel to five years and three months in prison, while three of her associates received lesser sentences.
Four members of the Hammerbande (German for “Hammer gang”), which were also involved in the beatings of numerous individuals in Budapest, Hungary, as well as attacks across Germany, have been convicted in a mammoth trial before a Saxon regional court in Dresden, after 97 days of evidence, according to Hungarian news outlet Magyar Nemzet.
There are 13 known victims of the Antifa gang in Germany, including former NPD member Enrico B. in Leipzig, who suffered fractured kneecaps and kicks to the head in 2018; right-wing activist Cederic S., who suffered severe spine fractures that nearly took his life; and Leon R., the owner of a far-right bar, who was attacked with bats along with other individuals inside the bar.
Judge Hans Schlueter-Staats handed down the verdict against the four far-left defendants for being members of a criminal organization, Bild reports.
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Antifa had announced Day X for this Saturday, where the goal is to inflict €1 million in damages for every year of Engel’s sentence in revenge. However, rioting has already taken place in a number of German cities, with the worst violence taking place in Bremen and Leipzig, the two cities where Engel lived. Up to 800 Antifa activists gathered in Leipzig and threw stones and fireworks at police.
Despite Engel’s fiancé still remaining in hiding from police, the presiding judge has already released her. He suspended her arrest warrant pending appeal in the case, which led to cheers from about 70 of Engel’s supporters inside the courtroom. As a result, she will likely remain free for months to a year while her court case is appealed. The prosecutor in the case had requested eight years.
Meanwhile, her accomplice Lennart Zaphod Arning was sentenced to three years in prison, Philipp Jonathan Mohr to three years and three months, and Jannis Rohling to two years for forming a criminal organization and committing assault resulting in serious injury.
As Remix News reported in February, the Hammer Gang also attacked eight victims in Budapest. They were randomly selected for wearing military-style clothing and beaten, leaving some severely injured. The suspects believed the victims were part of a right-wing demonstration taking place in the city.
Following the Budapest manhunt, police raided known centers of far-left groups in Berlin, Saxony and Thuringia and seized several documents and electronic media.
The sentencing was due to start at 10:00 am on Wednesday, but the mass arrival of an audience delayed the start. Antifa activists read out a purported greeting from the parents outside the court building, calling the court’s basis for the convictions “despicable evidence.”
According to Bild, the presiding judge had to adjourn the hearing for five minutes after the verdict was delivered. The sentencing was disrupted by far-left supporters of the convicts, who began making loud phone calls after the prison sentences were handed down, calling the judge “swine,” among other things. Judge Schlueter-Staats responded, “We will not be provoked by anything. The troublemakers will be identified and escorted from the premises.”
Several weeks ago, Antifa had announced Day X for the first Saturday after the verdict was issued, calling for street protests against the sentence handed down to Engel. They have promised to cause €1 million euros in damage to German cities for every year Engel must remain in prison, so this Saturday, the German authorities are preparing for potential arson and sabotage attacks in various cities.
