The thing in Hesse is now so confused that the Ministry of the Interior sends a chart to journalists. It's supposed to explain a scandal that gets bigger every week.
The authorities are now investigating twelve police officers. They should share right-wing radical ideas or have connections to the scene. Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) said there was no evidence for a "right-wing network". But in two complexes the trail leads to the same small town. The overview.
The Frankfurt chat group
The series of suspicious cases began with this complex. The Frankfurt public prosecutor investigates five police officers and a colleague who allegedly shared Hitler's pictures and swastikas in the "Itiot" chat group. In addition, in the case of a lawyer who received a threatening letter signed "NSU 2.0" in the summer, a trail leads to the suspects.
Immediately prior to sending the fax, data on the lawyer were requested via a police computer of the 1st police station in Frankfurt. The suspected officials are suspended. It is still unclear who sent the fax.
The case "Kirmes"
At the beginning of November 2018 two policemen noticed at a fair in Hessian Kirtorf. They are said to have made right-wing extremist statements with Reich citizenship reference and to wear scene-typical tattoos. The employee of a public order office filed a complaint. These are brothers who work in the police headquarters in West Hesse and East Hesse respectively.
After the ad their homes were searched. Investigators discovered at the 44-year-old weapons and Nazi devotional such as SS uniforms, posters, medals. The public prosecutor Frankfurt determined because of a violation against the weapon law, sedition and the use of unconstitutional marks. There is also a proceeding against the other brother.
more on the subject
The investigation led to three other police officers, who are possibly right-wing radical. A 35-year-old should have sent incendiary news, prosecutors determined. According to the Interior Ministry, there is an initial suspicion against the other two officials, which the LKA is investigating.
The betrayal for a friend
In January and February 2016, a police officer of the Bureau of Southern Hesse should have queried data on the right-wing radicals Carsten M. The officer did so according to safety circles for a friend, Martina H. She had previously met Carsten M. and wanted to know what the police knew about him.
According to the Interior Ministry, there is no evidence that the policeman acted from a right-wing approach. From security circles it is said that the query had purely personal motives. The police officer warned Martina H. about Carsten M. Meanwhile, the official works in Lower Saxony.
Whether and how deeply Martina H. was already involved in the right-wing extremist scene is unclear. But at the latest in May 2017, well over a year after the query, she should have listened to a violent neo-Nazi troupe. Martina H. and Carsten M. are indicted in Halle, among other things for dangerous bodily injury. So, if the officer really wanted to warn her, he obviously did not succeed.
Is there a connection between the cases?
Interior Minister Beuth attaches importance to the fact that the facts are not mixed, as he let communicate. So far, there are no verifiable connections that indicate a right network in the police.
Nevertheless, it might turn out that the cases are closer than expected. Because the trail leads into a small town with about 3300 inhabitants: Kirtorf. There, according to "FAZ", right-wing extremists meet every year - against the great resistance of the citizens.
Not only the 44-year-old policeman who found weapons and Nazi posters lives here. But also one of the officials who was in the chat group "Itiot", in which apparently Hitler pictures were sent.