Investigations continue: soldier after threatening video back at large

NAfter being arrested for a video threatening the state, a Bundeswehr soldier was released. The Traunstein public prosecutor did not see any grounds for detention in the case, said a police spokesman on Friday. Do not assume that the man poses an acute danger. However, he was still being investigated on suspicion of publicly calling for criminal offenses. The police and the public prosecutor’s office are also “in close contact” with the Bundeswehr, which is also examining the case.

The Bundeswehr soldier was arrested on Thursday evening at Munich’s Odeonsplatz after threatening the state in an Internet video. In the video clip, which is about a minute long, the man, who calls himself a sergeant major, demands, among other things, the withdrawal of the state corona measures and the obligation to tolerate, according to which the Covid vaccination became a regulation in the Bundeswehr. “This is a warning,” he says. “See you tomorrow” is required to comment. 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.”

Details remain unclear

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.

On Thursday evening, the soldier, who described himself as a mountain hunter from Bad Reichenhall, was arrested in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich. The police were on the spot with about ten crew vans after it became known that the man might show up there. The officers checked passers-by and did not allow any groups into the square. It was feared that supporters of the soldier and other demonstrators against the Corona measures could appear there. But the place 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.

Whether the Bundeswehr soldier had supporters or acted alone is currently being determined, said a police spokesman on Friday. The spokesman was just as reluctant to comment on details as on the question of whether the soldier might want to follow up his general threat in the Internet video with concrete actions.

The Ministry of Defense responded to the video on Thursday via 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 initially gave no 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. Anyone who does not share this has no place in our Bundeswehr! “