After a 64-year-old pensioner retweeted a meme of Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck, in which Habeck was described as an “idiot,” Bavarian police raided the man’s house and arrested him. The crime has even been recorded as a “politically motivated right-wing crime.”
The man is accused of distributing a photo of Habeck via retweet, where Habeck is described as an “idiot.” The Bamberg prosecutor’s office indicates that this constitutes a federal criminal offense of “hatred.”
“At a time that cannot currently be specified in more detail in the days or weeks before June 20, 2024, the accused published an image file using the account that shows a portrait of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck with the title ‘Schwachkopf PROFESSIONAL’, based on the advertising campaign of the Schwarzkopf company, in order to generally defame Robert Habeck and to make it more difficult for him to work as a member of the federal government,” read the prosecutor’s statement.
Schwachkopf generally means “idiot,” in German.
The rival Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has reposted the meme on X, writing in a statement:
“While Habeck presents himself as a ‘people-friendly’ candidate for chancellor, his critics are being relentlessly pursued. They do not shy away from conducting house searches on sleeping families just because the father of the family shared this Schwachkopf graphic. This is what would happen to Germany under a Chancellor Habeck: the complete restriction of freedom of expression by a children’s book author who displayed maximum incompetence for three and a half years, but still feels called to greater things,” wrote the AfD.
The person who was arrested told the NIUS news outlet that he could never have imagined “that it would come to this.” This has “definitely GDR flavor,” he said, referring to communist East Germany and its Stasi police force.
Nius also reports that “criminal police officers were deployed across Germany on Tuesday for the day of action against hate postings, warning social media users their homes would be searched and electronic devices confiscated. In over 90 investigations, more than 50 homes were searched, and there were 127 police actions in total.”
“When the police are at the door, every perpetrator realizes that hate crimes have consequences,” Interior Minister Faeser wrote on X.
Fast 130 Polizei-Maßnahmen gegen Judenhass heute sind genau das harte Vorgehen, das wir brauchen. Wenn die Polizei vor der Tür steht, wird jedem Täter klar, dass Hasskriminalität Konsequenzen hat.#AktionstaggegenHasspostings https://t.co/zU6s2MFN7F
— Nancy Faeser (@NancyFaeser) November 12, 2024Those who criticize the Green party in Bavaria have faced prosecution before. A businessman, Michael Much, put up posters mocking members of the federal government, including Habeck and then Green party leader Ricarda Lang. He also had his house searched and the posters confiscated. The prosecutor was defeated in court, which determined the posters were a legitimate form of freedom of expression.
Notably, last week, X owner Elon Musk called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a “fool,” on his platform. In response, the federal government reacted that “on X, you have Narrenfreiheit.” The term refers to freedom to mock the king, typically reserved for a jester.
Scholz himself responded that it was “not very friendly,” saying that web companies are “not organs of state, so I did not even pay it any attention.”
Apparently, for those lower on the food chain, such insults result in a massive police raid. The man’s phones were seized and all his rooms were searched.
Users have been acting with incredulity on social media, with one writing: “First election campaign posters leaked,” which showed police breaking down a door.
