A suspected right-wing extremist has to answer in court. He is said to have planned to shoot foreigners and police officers. It’s all just a fantasy, he says.
In a trial in Düsseldorf against a suspected right-wing extremist from Mönchengladbach, he made a partial confession but denied terrorist intentions. The 41-year-old is said to have planned to shoot foreigners and police officers. According to the prosecution, he had obtained various weapons for this purpose, including a repeating rifle. He is also said to have owned several pistols and rifles.
He admitted that he had made corresponding announcements on social networks. But he never wanted to make it a reality, the 41-year-old said through his defense attorney. He got into an extremist bubble during Corona times and only wanted to make himself important with the plans and reduce frustration.
He built the firearms himself out of a pure fascination with weapons. He even considered training to be a gunsmith. According to lawyer Gerd Meister, his client now distances himself from his thinking at the time and is shocked at himself in retrospect.
Otherwise he would not represent him as a lawyer at all. What the defendant posted on the Internet at the time on various platforms was undoubtedly racist, anti-Semitic and should be condemned. There is nothing to trivialize.
“Did the defendant seriously plan the attacks, meaning he wanted to carry them out, or did he just want to make himself important?” According to the presiding judge, this is the decisive question for the sentence.
The 41-year-old, who describes himself as an opponent of vaccination, is accused of violating the Weapons Act, War Weapons Control Act, Explosive Substances Act and the Narcotics Act, as well as preparing a serious, state-endangering act of violence.
The car mechanic came into the focus of investigators because of his views expressed on the Internet. According to the prosecution, from 2019 onwards the man had become increasingly anti-Semitic and xenophobic and had developed a hatred of foreigners and democracy.
The defendant lived above his workshop in Mönchengladbach. The weapons were found there in July 2022 during a search behind a shed in his kitchen. Small amounts of cocaine and amphetamines were also discovered in the kitchen-living room and his bedroom. The defendant is at large. Eight days of negotiations are planned for the trial until November 26th.
