After five people, aged 20 to 45, died on New Year’s Eve in Germany from mishandling fireworks, the Greens’ youth chair, Jette Nietzard, took to social media, writing on X: “Men who lose their hand while setting off fireworks can at least no longer hit women.”
German media reported on the significant backlash to this post, since deleted. Junge Freiheit reported that one commenter posted: “Dear party colleague, with all due respect, this is a terrible post. Delete it and think about what you wrote.” As noted, Nietzard did remove the post and also posted again, this time with an apology: “Nobody should be hurt on New Year’s Eve. I apologize for my tweet. I shouldn’t have worded it like that.”
However, the Green politician did still highlight the issue of domestic violence in another post, saying, “I deleted my tweet. It would be good to talk about systematic solutions to domestic violence instead of hurt male egos. One in four women is a victim of (ex)partners. I hope you will join in the discussion as passionately as I do.”
Aside from the five deaths, many people were injured, including a 16-year-old who lost almost all the fingers on one hand. In Berlin alone, 36 people were injured in an explosion and several apartments were left uninhabitable due to the use of firework rockets.
The issue of migration was front and center, with much of the violence perpetrated by those with a migration background. As Remix News reported, the attacks were not just in Berlin, but all over the country.
The police union (GdP) federal chairman Jochen Kopelke said “I can no longer tolerate this macho behavior on the streets and in social media. Time and again, there are young men from socially disadvantaged areas who think they control the streets.”
Polish journalists on the ground also shed light on the situation. “Unfortunately, in Germany, following the tradition of several years, many participants, mainly those with a migrant background, confused New Year’s Eve with war operations,” said Agnieszka Wolska, a Polish journalist based in Cologne.
Meanwhile the Greens’ Jette Nietzard, according to Nius, clearly did not understand the outrage over her tweet. The news site snagged a video she posted, also now deleted, of her lying in bed and trying to clarify how she wanted her post to be understood. Nuis reports that she essentially maintained the existence of a large overlap between men who like to set off fireworks and men who commit violence against women.
Her final post on the topic indicated that she had been the subject of numerous hateful attacks, including obscene threats to her life, while also openly sexualizing her. “In the new year, men may glorify violence,” she concluded her post.
