The murder of a 20-year-old at a gas station in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, causes consternation in Germany. Saturday, September 18, Mario N., 49, shot dead the young employee of a gas station because, a few hours earlier, the latter had refused to cash his purchases for not wearing a hygienic mask.
The next day, Mario N. went to the police and investigators who searched his home found the murder weapon as well as other firearms and ammunition. The perpetrator told the police that he felt ” cornered “ by measures relating to the Covid-19 epidemic, which he perceived as a “Increasing infringement of his rights” and that he had not seen “No other way out”Prosecutor Kai Fuhrmann said on Monday. The suspect was remanded in custody, the Rhineland-Palatinate local police said in a Monday evening press release.
The emotion of the candidates
With the approach of the German legislative elections of September 26, the various candidates for the chancellery expressed their emotion. The Social Democratic candidate (SPD) for the chancellery, Olaf Scholz, said to himself on Twitter “Very shocked that someone was killed because he wanted to protect himself and others”. “As a society, we must resolutely oppose hatred. The offender must be severely punished ”, added the current favorite of the polls to the succession of Angela Merkel. The Minister of Justice, also a member of the SPD, Christine lambrecht, spoke of an act “Scandalous and disgusting”.
“I am shocked by the terrible murder of a young man who only asked to follow the rules in force, to be careful and to show solidarity”, for her part, estimated the environmental candidate for the chancellery, Annalena baerbock. “All this aggression and all this violence, also in speech, must end. And that is why I appeal to all those who have a different opinion: violence is not a means ”, for his part, declared the conservative candidate of the party of Mr.me Merkel, Armin Laschet.
For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas questioned on Twitter the self-proclaimed movement of “Free thinkers” (Querdenker), a movement radically opposed to health restrictions. “Free thinkers are celebrating the act on the Internet. The hatred and harassment of these incorrigible people is dividing our community and killing people. They have no place in our society ”, accused the minister.
No links established with the Querdenkers
However, the police did not specify whether the author of the shots considered himself to be a member of this movement. This brings together members of the far left, followers of conspiracy theories, detractors of vaccination as well as supporters of the far right. Since the start of the pandemic, they have regularly organized demonstrations across Germany, bringing together tens of thousands of people and many of whom have degenerated into violence.
Germany’s domestic intelligence services announced in April that they were placing members of the Querdenker under surveillance, suspecting them of having links to right-wing extremism. “The escalation of far-right conspiratorial fantasies among aggressive and violent citizens has been evident for months”, said Stephan Kramer, head of the intelligence services of the state of Thuringia, in the east of the country, to the German media group RND.