BERLIN — The police in Germany have arrested a 53-yr-outdated guy with a historical past of help for the far suitable in connection with a series of death threats sent to properly-recognized progressives, such as a attorney, a politician and a comedian, the authorities stated on Tuesday.
The threats generally integrated data recognized only to the authorities, this kind of as the names of the targets’ young children or their residence addresses, at first main investigators to suspect that police officers had been concerned and incorporating to issues about the rising influence of far-suitable extremists inside of the ranks of law enforcement.
Peter Beuth, interior minister for the central state of Hesse, exactly where most of the victims lived, advised reporters on Tuesday, “The threatening letters had raised extremely significant suspicions about the police.” But, he extra, “According to anything we know currently, no Hessian police officer was ever accountable.”
The authorities stated on Tuesday that the suspect, who has not been publicly recognized in preserving with German privacy laws, had under no circumstances worked as a police officer. A lot of of the notes had been signed “NSU two.,” a reference to a far-suitable terrorist group that killed ten people today, laid bombs and committed robberies for additional than a decade, beginning in 1999.
The authorities in Hesse stated that the death threats started in 2018 and had been sent primarily to females recognized for their function on behalf of migrants.
The suspect was detained in Berlin at the request of the authorities in Hesse as aspect of an investigation that started in 2019.
The guy has a criminal record that incorporates unspecified suitable-wing crimes, in accordance to the Hesse State authorities. Numerous information retailers reported that he had obtained at least some of the personalized data by contacting public registries and demanding entry whilst impersonating a police officer.
The campaign of threats also inspired copycats. Final summer season, a former police officer in Bavaria and his wife had been arrested on fees of sending comparable threatening letters.