The police are less and less likely to consider political crimes to be right-wing or left-wing extremists

The development of politically motivated crime poses new challenges for the security authorities. The number of crimes classified as political in the current year could reach the previous all-time high from 2021. This was the result of a query by WELT AM SONNTAG among the police authorities in the federal states. Violations of the law with a political background are no longer only committed by left-wing or right-wing extremists or Islamists - but increasingly by perpetrators who cannot be assigned to the traditional categories. Many come from the “lateral thinker” milieu.

An increase in politically motivated crimes, which are located neither "left" nor "right", has already become apparent in recent years. This trend intensified in the first half of the current year. The police from eleven federal states refused to provide information. However, data from Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania indicate that the development stabilized in the first half of the current year.

In the first half of 2021, the police authorities in the five countries mentioned had still assigned around 3,980 cases of politically motivated crime to the “cannot be assigned” category. In the first half of this year, there were already a little more than 4,250 "unclassifiable" cases - and thus around 43 percent of political crimes. The reason apparently lies in the growing strength of the “lateral thinker” scene inspired by conspiracy ideologies. According to statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), around 16 percent of all political crimes last year were related to the corona pandemic.

In the first six months of this year, the five countries mentioned registered a total of almost 9,900 crimes with political motivation. In the first half of 2021 there were only around 300 more cases. However, police experts fear that the numbers could increase significantly in autumn and winter. This depends on the protests against the energy crisis and the progress of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

About three quarters of all politically motivated crimes are property damage, propaganda crimes, insults and incitement to hatred. Violent crimes account for around seven percent. The right-wing extremist attacks in Halle and Hanau in 2019 and 2020, as well as attacks with an Islamist background, killed people.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution reacted to the trend towards new extremism by defining a new area of ​​phenomena: the "delegitimization of the state relevant to the protection of the Constitution". On the other hand, considerations of reforming the police survey practice were rejected by an expert commission of the federal states.

The police union (GdP) also considers the existing recording system to be sufficient. "The police state protection acts primarily repressive and is not to be compared with the protection of the constitution," said the spokesman for the Berlin GdP, Benjamin Jendro. The recording system is "very extensive".

The BKA points out that politically motivated crimes are not only assigned to "phenomenal areas" (left, right, religious or foreign ideology, "cannot be assigned"), but also to "topic areas" (e.g. corona pandemic). Politically motivated crimes would thus be “comprehensively mapped”.

The Greens, on the other hand, criticize the recording. “If around 40 percent of all politically motivated crimes are not assigned to any category, this gives the impression of helplessness in terms of security policy. Nobody can have an interest in that, ”said their domestic policy spokesman, Marcel Emmerich, this newspaper. One must check whether the unassigned cases in the context of the pandemic should not be categorized as right-wing extremist. "Otherwise, a new phenomenon area must be defined in the statistics," said Emmerich.

Left-wing MP Martina Renner said that the “cannot be assigned” category was mainly used to downplay the high number of right-wing crimes. Renner referred to a list of politically motivated crimes related to the "National Socialist Underground" (NSU) terrorist cell. The NSU is undoubtedly right-wing extremist. Nevertheless, the police classified 13 of the 228 cases registered in connection with the NSU as "not attributable". The numbers "cannot be beaten in terms of absurdity," Renner criticized.

In security circles it is said that crimes related to the energy crisis are also mostly registered as "not attributable". The BKA does not want to adjust the recording anyway. The assignment to existing subject areas such as "ecology/industry/economy" or "supply" is sufficient, the authority said.