Friday December 31, 2021
Investigations continue
Soldier at large after threatening video
With a video in which he threatens the government with violence and ultimately calls for the withdrawal of the corona measures, a Bundeswehr soldier causes outrage. However, the prosecution does not see any reasons to arrest the man. It is unclear whether he actually planned acts of violence.
A Bundeswehr soldier was released after he was arrested for a video threatening the state. The Traunstein public prosecutor did not see any grounds for detention in the case, said a police spokesman. Do not assume that the man poses an acute danger. He was still being investigated on suspicion of publicly calling for criminal offenses. The police and the public prosecutor’s office are also “in close contact” with the Bundeswehr, which is also examining the case.
The Bundeswehr soldier was arrested on Thursday evening at Munich’s Odeonsplatz after threatening the state in an Internet video. In the video clip, which is about a minute long, the man, who calls himself a sergeant major, demands, among other things, the withdrawal of the state corona measures and the obligation to tolerate, according to which the Covid vaccination became a regulation in the Bundeswehr.
“This is a warning,” he says in the video. “See you tomorrow” a comment is required. The text accompanying the video states that the “constitutional order” must be restored. “The soldiers are ready for a dialogue by 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.” According to the right-wing extremism and social media expert Josef Holnburger, the man had already threatened violence and called for a fight in the past because of the corona measures.
Bundeswehr is examining the consequences
On Thursday evening, the soldier, who described himself as a mountain hunter from Bad Reichenhall, was arrested in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich. The police were on site with about ten personnel carriers after it became known that the man might appear there. The officers checked passers-by and did not allow any groups into the square. It was feared that supporters of the soldier and other protesters against the Corona measures could appear there. But the square remained empty, and the man’s supporters did not flock. A man who pretended to be a soldier and a colleague of the detainee was expelled from the area by the police.
Whether the Bundeswehr soldier had supporters or acted alone is currently being determined, said a police spokesman. The spokesman was just as reluctant to comment on details as on the question of whether the soldier might want to follow up his general threat in the Internet video with concrete actions. The Ministry of Defense responded to the video on Thursday via Twitter: “There is currently a video of an alleged soldier circulating on the network, which is often shared here.” It contains threats against the rule of law that are unacceptable. “The consequences are already being examined.” For legal reasons, a ministry spokeswoman initially gave no further information on request.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht later wrote on Twitter: “The Bundeswehr needs reflective and upright people who stand firmly on the ground of our Basic Law. Those who do not share this have no business in our Bundeswehr!”