Merkel ‘outraged’ by Nazi chants at far-right rally for German who died after fight with two Afghans
German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed anger yesterday at Nazi chants from farright demonstrators marching after a German man died in a fight with two Afghans.
Police and prosecutors said the 22-year-old died of heart failure after coming to blows with the two suspects in the eastern town of Koethen late on Saturday.
The far-right swiftly organised a demonstration on Sunday evening that drew 2,500 people, including 400 to 500 known extremists, authorities from Saxony-Anhalt state said.
The rally was billed as a mourning march but groups of mostly white men were filmed chanting “national socialism, now, now now” – a reference to the Nazis’ ideology.
“At the end of the day in Koethen, a video shows open Nazi chants,” said Steffen Seibert, Mrs Merkel’s spokesman. “That must affect us and outrage us.”
Saxony-Anhalt state’s Interior Minister, Holger Stahlknecht, said several investigations had been launched over incitement to hatred in speeches given during the rally.
Investigators are also examining chants shouted during the protest.
The far-right Alternative for Germany party announced a rally for last night, although it said political speeches would not be made.
In a video posted online by
Buzzfeed, a man the website identified as a member of the far-right scene, David Koeckert, told the crowd to loud applause that “we must defend ourselves in the race war against the German people, which is what happened here”.
“Do you want to continue to be bleating sheep or do you want to become wolves and shred them to pieces?” Mr Koeckert said to cheers.
Authorities have said the death of the man was “not directly” linked to the injuries he suffered in the fight.
But fears were growing that the case could inflame anti-migrant tension, as it came two weeks after the fatal stabbing of a man in the eastern city of Chemnitz, which sparked xenophobic protests.
Two suspects – an Iraqi and a Syrian – were arrested over the stabbing and a third man, also an Iraqi, is being sought.
The Chemnitz protests led to a clash between Mrs Merkel and the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, who raised doubts about a video purportedly showing a “hunt on foreigners” by neo-Nazi mobs.
Mrs Merkel and her spokesman have repeatedly used the description in condemning the violent protests.
But domestic spy chief HansGeorg Maassen told Germany’s Bild daily he had “no proof” that the video circulating online, which appeared to show immigrants being accosted and chased, was authentic.
Mr Maassen, who was under pressure to produce evidence to back his claim, submitted a report to the government, which is being examined, Mr Seibert and the Interior Ministry said.