German Police Arrest Four in Nationwide Neo-Nazi Crackdown
One of the suspects was a non-commissioned officer in the German armed forces, while the 50 others had their homes raided in the far-right extremist investigation.
Landwebs
German authorities have swooped on alleged neo-Nazi militant cells, raiding the homes of 50 suspects in 11 states and arresting four suspects as the country pursues a forceful crackdown on far-right extremists, reports The Guardian. The suspects targeted were believed to belong to the far-right martial arts group Knockout 51, the banned Combat 18 — named after the order in the alphabet of Adolf Hitler’s initials — as well as the US-based Atomwaffen Division or the online propaganda group Sonderkommando 1418. Three of the men arrested are believed to be leading figures in Knockout 51, which prosecutors said: “lures young, nationalist-minded men, indoctrinates them with rightwing extremist propaganda, and trains them for street fighting.” One of the suspects was a non-commissioned officer in the German armed forces. Knockout 51 is believed to have ties with other far-right groups across Germany, and “at the latest since March 2020, has been focused on committing serious crimes”. Prosecutors said 10 of the suspects targeted were accused of ties with the “terrorist organization” Atomwaffen Division Deutschland.
