The police were on duty with a dozen personnel carriers on Munich’s Odeonsplatz on Thursday evening. Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
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Munich (AP) – A Bundeswehr soldier made threats against the state in a video on the Internet because of the corona policy and was then arrested in downtown Munich. He was taken to Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle on Thursday evening, as the police chief said.
Several police officers had positioned themselves there after it became known that the soldier might appear there. The police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South stated that the man was suspected of having “publicly incited crimes”.
Detective officers took over the arrested person, who referred to himself as a sergeant major, and brought him “to the area of the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South”. The investigation is underway there.
“This is a warning”
In a one-minute video clip, the man had demanded, among other things, the withdrawal of the state corona measures and the so-called tolerance obligation, according to which the Covid vaccination became a regulation in the Bundeswehr. “This is a warning,” he says on the tape. “See you tomorrow”, that is, Thursday, 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.”
The Federal Ministry of Defense responded on Thursday on Twitter: “There is currently a video of an alleged soldier circulating on the Internet, which is often shared here.” It contains threats against the rule of law that are unacceptable. “The consequences are already being examined.”
A ministry spokeswoman did not want to provide any further information on request for legal reasons. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) later wrote on Twitter: “The Bundeswehr needs reflective and upright people who are firmly committed to our Basic Law. Those who do not share this have no business in our Bundeswehr!”
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.
The police were on Thursday evening with about ten personnel carriers on Odeonsplatz, controlled passers-by and did not let 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.
Demonstrations in
Bayern
Several thousand critics of the Corona policy demonstrated in downtown Munich on Wednesday despite the ban. On Thursday, however, it remained calm. There were also no problems in other Bavarian cities where so-called walks were announced by opponents of the corona measures or anti-vaccination measures.
In Bad Reichenhall – where the soldier is said to have come from – around 500 demonstrators ran through the city, 200 then moved on to the Hochstaufenkaserne – peacefully and without incident, as the police announced.
In Nuremberg, more than 1000 people marched through the city center in an unregistered protest march. The police initially stopped the group after a few meters, imposed conditions such as a distance regulation, determined a route – and finally accompanied the demonstration through the city with numerous officers. According to the police, there were no disturbances.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211230-99-547465 / 4
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