Intel chief Maassen turns in report to Seehofer, while far-left wants him sacked

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UPDATE 9-12: Maassen survives grilling in Parliament; given vote  of confidence by Interior Minister Seehofer. Maassen came under fire for not being tough enough against the so-called far-right during the anti-migration protests in the eastern German city of Chemnitz. At the hearing, the head of the domestic intellegence agency is reported to have aimed his criticism at the media, stating that terms like "hounding" should not be used lightly in writing because they can redefine reality. Seehofer praised Maassen for his work and stated that he had argued convincingly and with nuance. Naturally, the left and far-left were not satisfied, saying they had lost confidence in him.

by Carolyn Yeager

ACCORDING TO Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle, the essence of Hans-Georg Maassen's report to Seehofer and Merkel is criticism of the too-rapid publication of a video to major media immediately after the murder of a German by migrants. Maassen deems that release as frivolous, because no one could have estimated the source or the genuineness of the recording at the time. Maassen no longer denies that the video is genuine, but that this could not have been known at the time it was released and commented upon. It could have been a forgery to distract from the murder of the German man by refugees, Maassen holds. 

For this reason, he still criticizes the media and the government spokesman Steffan Seibert (and the Chancellor herself) to have too quickly made a public verdict on the incidents. And in fact, Angela Merkel still today is voicing anger against “Nazi chants” by “far-right” demonstrators in Köthen where another German national died at the hands of foreign migrants last week. "At the end of the day in Köthen, a video shows open Nazi chants – that must affect us and outrage us," said Seibert, Merkel's spokesman. The chant caught on film in Köthen was "national socialism, now, now now" ... hardly anything calling for violence. 

The report is also said to contain the information that the Internet account by which the video was posted – by “tick bite” – was not known to the authorities, and was said to have been received from a “patriotic group”, a strange choice of words for the left-wing scene. In addition, Maassen thinks the video by itself was not proof of a “hunt”, a word used not only by the media but by the government spokesman and the Chancellor also. It showed an isolated incident, partly why Maassen at first deemed it untrustworthy.

Maassen does concede in the report that he should have expressed himself more precisely in the Bild newspaper interview – that he left too much room for interpretation.

As to Interior Minister Seehofer, he is the only one authorized to dismiss the head of the Protection of the Constitution department and he has expressed his confidence. Seehofer said that Maassen came to his office with his opinion before going public and Seehofer told him that it was his right “to go public at any time” with the information.

The report is expected to be made available on Wednesday to members of the Parliamentary Control Panel and the Interior Committee of the Bundestag.

Maassen and Federal Chief of Police Dieter Romann both believe that the decision of CDU leader Merkel, at the height of the refugee crisis in the summer of 2015 when hundreds of thousands of young men from crisis and war zones were welcomed into the country, worsened the security situation in Germany. They say there are not too few laws to master the situation, rather, it's that they are often not enforced. According to Der Spiegel, Maaßen sees himself as an enforcer of law, and hopes, in a CSU-led Home Office (under Seehofer), to have more backing for his law-and-order course than he's had in the past. 

Of course, this must all be seen against the backdrop of the October elections in Bavaria – pitting the ruling CSU against the challenger AfD. Seehofer is embracing the opportunity to burnish his anti-immigrant credentials.

Situation in Germany similar to Charlottesville

The death of 22-year-old Markus B in Köthen is being blamed on “likely heart failure” that could not have been caused by the blows he had received in the fight with the two Afghans in custody. It sounds very much like they won't be charged with his death if that proves to be true. If so, the two will practically go free. The German media is making sure we know this – that it was not murder at all.

But compare this with the so-called murder of ultra-liberal, grossly obese Heather Heyer, 32, who died of heart failure in the street in Charlottesville, Virginia on that fateful day when a car driven by 20-year old James Fields rammed into another car in the midst of protesters in the streets – protestors of whom she was one. Fields' car did not touch her; he never even saw her. But Heyer succumbed then and there on that hot day; she could not be revived by paramedics and was transported by ambulance to a hospital where she was declared dead. Immediately, Fields was accused of being a murderer and found to be a youthful “neo-nazi.” He is now facing federal and state first degree murder charges, with the addition of more than 30 “hate crimes” in the indictment. Each hate crime adds a penalty of life in prison!

It was Heather Heyer's mother who let the cat out of the bag during an interview that Heather had died of a heart attack, apparently from all the excitement and her unaccustomed exertions that day. It is something the media would never have mentioned.

We can ask: If one of the Afghans had died of heart failure after a fight with Markus B, would the coverage be the same? Would the center-left and far-left politicians be pointing it out, or would they only be calling for the strongest punishment for this bad German, along with a crackdown on all anti-immigrant speech and political parties?