©(Augustin-Foto) Jonas Augustin via Unsplash
German police raided addresses in 12 of Germany's 16 federal states en masse on Wednesday morning. The searches are taking place as part of an investigation into far-right criminal groups.
The investigation focuses mainly on the organizations Jung und Stark and Deutsche Jugend Voran. The latter also acts under the name Neue Deutsche Welle. These groups first appeared on the prosecution's radar in 2024 and have already organized themselves across Germany, with operative regional branches in all corners.
The prosecution reports that 36 of its members, mostly executives, are already suspected of founding and participating in these groups. Quite a few of these executive suspects are already known to police through another investigation in which they are suspected of aggravated assault. According to police, the youngest suspect is only 16 years old.
As many as 600 police officers were involved in the searches on Wednesday, May 6. Police today mainly want to gather evidence so that they can then proceed with charges and prosecutions. It's not yet clear whether any arrests were made on Wednesday. That will likely be officially communicated later on in the week.
According to the prosecution, members of these targeted groups contact each other through social media and organize rallies. By doing so, they call for violence against their political opponents and alleged pedophiles. And it seems that their actions don't just stop at words, many of the members are already suspected of assault and even aggravated assault.
©(Augustin Photo) Jonas Augustin via Unsplash