German far-right party AfD blamed over racist violence after the Hanau shooting

On Thursday, Nine people were killed in the western German city in 2 sheesha bar by Tobias Rathjen. The people were from supposedly from an immigrant background. The shooter was evidently hater of minorities and after returned home and killed his mom and afterward himself—a 43-year-old who had posted a racist video and statement on the web before completing the killings.

According to the Guardian, Horst Seehofer, the Interior Minister, reported he would be expanding police security at mosques and different areas considered unsafe for assault by right-wing extremists.

On Thursday night, across 50 cities in Germany, a large number of people collected to grieve the casualties of the assault and did candlelit vigils and stood against the stance of the far right.

On Friday, the dad of the only female victim discussed his wariness at the loss of his girl, who was five months pregnant.

Mercedes Kierpacz was 34 years old; she worked at a kiosk next to the Arena Bar. She was shot dead as she entered the bar to place an order, her dad, Filip Goman, narrated to the German paper Bild.

He added that “Rathjen gunned her down, just like that.” “Mentally, ethically, I am dead. I can’t grasp the preposterousness of the wrongdoing. How can you understand what was happening in his mind? To kill nine individuals for unknown reasons and afterward to return home and murder his mom? How can you define that?”

Rathjen had acquired two firearms legally, the two of which were purchased online. He used the Glock pistol to complete the assault, which the German media reported after investigations.

The AfD was established as an anti-euro party. However, it grew to prominence on the back of the refugee crisis in 2015, during which up to 1 million refugees arrived in Germany. It won 12.6% of the vote at the last political elections.

It has often asked for the forced deportation of immigrants and criticized refugees for making life in Germany unsafe. It has urged a reconsider over Germany’s recognition culture of its Nazi past.

The AfD reacted indignantly to the demands for it to perceive any responsibility regarding the Hanau assaults, calling the allegations a “frail, and sickening instrumentalization of this crime” in a statement, the Guardian published.

Other politicians also criticized the AfD. “There is an immediate connection between the increasing strength of the AfD and the expansion in right-wing violence,” stated the Interior Minister for the State of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius. “A deadly disinhibition has been gotten underway, and the AfD is complicit right now,” the Guardian reported.

In Germany, if governments establish that an organization has what is esteemed “radical goals,” at that point, it very well may be observed strictly utilizing a variety of surveillance techniques.
Peter Frank, The chief federal prosecutor, said on Thursday that Rathjen had exhibited a “profoundly racist attitude” in his online posts.

Investigators are currently examining whether he acted upon his own or had gained support from different people or groups, The Guardian reported.

Article Credit: The Guardian

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