The following interview with a serving German police officer highlights the increasing use of violence used by police against peaceful demonstrators, especially in Berlin.
Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Boris Reitschuster’s website. The translator’s comments are in square brackets:
Berlin police: conditions like those in an authoritarian regime
Terrifying insider report: “They feel themselves to be above the law”
These are statements that take your breath away. What the Berlin policeman Martin Schmidt (name changed) reports after 27 years in the senior civil service in the capital is unbelievable. And sheds a frightening light on the conditions of the law enforcement officers, who, because of their brutality in dealing with demonstrators, were even targeted by the UN report on torture at the time, who spoke of a “culture of police violence”; two people died after brutal police operations (see here and here). The interview with the police officer makes it clear: the police are really being incited; they are thugs out for violence. [That’s why I call them “State Thug Force”.] And, just as incredible: Alleged non-governmental organizations that are paid for with tax money for red-green hatred and agitation, such as the “Golden Aluminum Hat”, are used in “political education” to incite officials against government critics. The state of affairs is a description as if from an authoritarian regime, which the official delivers. And which makes it clear: the police and their political leadership feel themselves above the law.
Read the interview here, a guest article by Sophia-Maria Antonulas (text) and Tilo Gräser (image):
What was your motivation to become a police officer?
Martin Schmidt: I was concerned with justice, with protecting the weak and fighting crime. That’s why I went into the police. I’ve long had this notion that the police protect good from evil. But the police don’t do that anymore. I didn’t change, but the coordinate system shifted. Today I’ve come to the point where I cannot and do not want to do my job any longer.
After 27 years of service, it’s definitely going to take a lot to resign from your job soon. What was the trigger?
My inner resignation is a process that began a few years ago and reached its climax during the Corona crisis. The police operations conducted with merciless severity against critics of the Corona measures, the blunt action according to double standards and the disproportionate police violence, which I also had to see personally as an eyewitness, made me sick in the truest sense of the word. It has become painfully clear to me that I can no longer continue in my duty, which I have done with passion and great commitment for so many years.
As a police officer, you have taken an oath to uphold the constitution of the State of Berlin and the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Yes, that’s why I’m so shocked that since March 2020 it has been possible to enforce the abolition of the unchangeable basic rights without much resistance — all under the pretext of wanting to protect the population from a virus. This breach of law was legalized when Parliament passed amendments to the Infection Protection Act and declared a pandemic situation of national concern. Instead of insisting on compliance with law and order, on proportionality and the protection of fundamental rights, the police have unfortunately made themselves the vicarious agent of an encroaching state.
How do police officers feel when they have to enforce nonsensical measures, get people off the trains, close restaurants, or stop the forming of political parties, dissolve family reunions? Why are police officers chasing young people in the park with their police car just because they are hugging?
The constant defamation of the “Querdenker” has also taken root in the minds of colleagues. But I know many who feel uncomfortable with particularly violent scenes. However, the critical colleagues do not dare to speak their minds freely, for fear of exclusion, a career setback, or even losing their job.
[Photo of police action in Berlin, April 25, 2020]
The so-called cancel culture was already in place before 2020 and has also restricted freedom of expression within the police. In the meantime, these knife-points have turned into sharp swords, which have caused massive damage to the rule of law. In Germany, for example, I would never have thought it possible to conduct house searches against judges just because they passed unwelcome verdicts. Many house searches serve not only to secure evidence, but also to intimidate. Instead of serious criminals, it now hits irreproachable doctors, judges, lawyers and so on. And in general, investigators in the State Security Department get search warrants much more easily than those in the Crime-Fighting Department. [That alone should tell you a lot and send shivers down the spine of every German, but unfortunately it won’t. And Napoleon Bonaparte was spot on about the Germans.]
Did the use of the police against their own population begin only with the Corona?
The police have been ideologized for years. Executives receive political training in seminars, some of which are compulsory. Among other things, by employees of the association “Der goldene Aluhut” [The Golden Aluminium Hat], an organization that gives press prizes to alleged “conspiracy theorists”. These political activists are not neutral experts and therefore not serious candidates to train police officers. This is just one example of why the police are so in line with the government.
Most police officers now live in their own world and do not notice this double standard. They punish even the smallest violations on the street, but they are close together in the police station, in the offices, lounges or the smoking corner. That’s far removed from citizens. And it disgusts me.
Which actions of the Berlin police shocked you the most?
On November 18, 2020, water cannons were again used against demonstrators in the riot capital of Berlin — for the first time in 17 years. Ironically, on the day of the decisive change in the Infection Protection Act. That is telling. Written and verbal instructions circulated internally to take low-threshold action in the event of protests against the Corona measures. This represented a total departure from the de-escalation strategy that the Berlin Police had practiced for years. [I’m pretty sure they still use that de-escalation policy with Antifa or Arab clans or other organized crime syndicates.]
[Photo of police action in Berlin, November 18, 2020]
And from my point of view, there were clearly illegal actions against the demonstrators, who presented a medical certificate exempting them from the obligation to wear masks. Dozens of genuine certificates were confiscated at meetings and investigations were launched into the use of incorrect health certificates. The emergency services took those affected into circumstances that restricted their freedom and then prohibited these people from further demonstrating. I know that colleagues arbitrarily categorized numerous health certificates as forgeries or courtesy certificates, the same documents that had just gone unchallenged at the same meeting by the same police unit. The chief of police had probably ordered that all the certificates be examined again and confiscated, no matter how absurd the reasoning. As a result, the police robbed people of their fundamental right to freedom of assembly, hindered assemblies, intimidated demonstrators and subjected them to baseless investigations. Legally, this is a persecution of innocent people. And I advise anyone affected to file a criminal complaint. [I’m sorry to ask, but where should one file such a complaint? At a police station? Don’t make me laugh cynically. As if anything would come of this, except more intimidation and persecution of those who filed the complaint.]
You address the persecution of innocent people. How about the vaccination cards?
There are internal instructions to proceed illegally with the vaccination cards. Only later was a law passed that made the falsification of vaccination cards a punishable offense. According to the instructions, police officers should also question vaccination certificates that were issued before the date of the change in the law. These procedures then had to be discontinued, so it was pure harassment and a waste of money. Overzealous pharmacists who collect, compare and store personal data despite the lack of criminal liability are not prosecuted.
But the failure of the police unions is also incredible. In December 2021, 20 percent of colleagues were still unvaccinated. They had to show a negative test every day in order to even be allowed to enter the office building. Until the result was there, they had to wait 15 minutes in the cold — while the vaccinated colleagues were completely exempt from the test obligation. There were sometimes stupid sayings like “It’s your own fault, just get vaccinated.” Minority rights are usually very important, but the unions didn’t say anything. They shared in the discrimination against unvaccinated police officers.
In April 2021, the then UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, intervened. He criticized the “culture of tolerance for police violence” in Berlin. Many people who have experienced the deployment of hundreds-strong police units at the demonstrations of the past two and a half years ask themselves whether it is mainly sociopaths who are recruited? [I’d say that this is a given.]
A few hundred units are trained to take action against rioters and serious criminals. These units are like attack dogs that will run as soon as they are let off the leash. During protests by the left-wing scene, these Units are called off and dozens of police officers are injured. That creates frustration. At the demonstrations for the observance of fundamental rights, the same operational units are then no longer held back by the leadership and are not smeared by the media for their acts of violence. The colleagues don’t care who they have in front of them. It’s enough if someone doesn’t follow instructions. When the command “HIT” sounds, the boys get going. It doesn’t matter if it’s an older woman. Individual police officers are just horny for violence.
So the same politicians and police leaders who previously slowed down their colleagues in taking action against participants who were genuinely violent have turned around and ordered a tough crackdown. Suddenly there was backing for this — even from the traditionally anti-police party of the Greens. They demanded the use of batons and pepper spray against “Querdenker”. Politicians, the leading media, and the many association spokespersons have become radicalized. This affects the orders of the police commanders and the actions of the emergency services. The police intervene disproportionately; innocent people are prosecuted; violations are fabricated and exaggerated. At some demonstrations there were more than 300 measures restricting freedom, although not a single stone was thrown.
Are you yourself a participant in the demonstrations and walks for fundamental rights?
Yes. And some of what I saw there was bad. There were hunting scenes. Hundreds of police rushed after them and treated peaceful demonstrators like criminals. I just thought: What are they doing there; that can’t be true? I even cried out of desperation once. And that was the turning point in terms of my professional identity. After that, I couldn’t identify with my job anymore. An entire profession has failed collectively. Officials quickly forget the principle of proportionality against participants in the demonstrations for fundamental rights. The police in Berlin stands out when it comes to police violence. I don’t want to be part of it anymore, I don’t do it anymore.
But the people who criticize the government and who have been demonstrating in Berlin since March 2020 for their basic rights and going on Monday walks — aren’t they all right-wing?
(Laughs) The average citizen takes to the streets — old hippies, normal citizens, spiritual people, leftists, liberals, rightists, just a colorful mixture. But in the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Berlin, the investigation group “Quer” was set up in 2020 — based on the word “Querdenker”. All crimes that occur in the course of protests against the Corona measures are processed there. Since this investigative team belongs to the State Security Department LKA 53 (politically motivated crimes on the right), all processed offenses are included in the statistics as legally motivated — regardless of the actual political views of the individual suspects. And so it seems that there are more right-wing crimes and, as a result, more money for organizations that want to prevent them. [How convenient.]
Does that sound more like peaceful citizens should be kept off the streets by force?
Brutal police operations and the rigorous punishment of violations are intended to deter potential demonstrators. The critics of the measures are on average over 50 years old. Many who simply want to demonstrate peacefully are prevented from doing so by the appearance of the police and the masses of administrative offenses and criminal proceedings that have been initiated. [Not surprised by that age group either, almost everyone younger has been successfully turned against their own by the “education system”.]
I’ve also seen some very aggressive group leaders. Police officers repeatedly prevented people from even joining demonstrations. In one case in the spring of 2022, for example, there was no more access because the number of participants stated in the registration had allegedly been reached. This justification is completely absurd and is not used in other protests, for example against the Ukraine war. There are double standards depending on whether the issue is acceptable to the government or not.
The protest movement on the streets was simply not allowed to grow. In the late summer of 2020, politicians were afraid that the mood would change completely. The police leadership and the then-Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel, imposed a ban on the demonstration on August 29, 2020, which was overturned by the judiciary in two instances. Despite this, the police stopped the march and blocked it for hours. The resulting congestion and reduced distances then served as justification for a dangerous situation. In fact, it was about denying the demonstrators their fundamental rights. For me, this approach represents a clear disregard for the separation of powers. [I take it that’s why they wear black uniforms again.]
What would you like to say to police colleagues?
Call in sick on assignments where you have a “stomach ache”. Look in the mirror, think about who is facing you. Behave humanely, question and examine your official actions, and compare them with your conscience, your moral and legal points of view. Raise concerns to your superiors if you disagree with instructions. And dare to stand up for fundamental rights and freedom in your free time. If the unions don’t represent your interests, simply cancel your membership and join the inter-governmental Good Governance Union (GGG).
And what is your advice to citizens who continue to demonstrate for their human and fundamental rights?
Carry on despite police violence. Remain peaceful but determined. Don’t let them push you apart, but stay close together in groups. Don’t back down. Document assaults and report them. Collect contact details from the witnesses and network. The decentralized walks are a good strategy. Flash mobs around the clock in every city also make sense. Familiarize yourself with your rights and obligations in the right of assembly; organize seminars with legally trained speakers. Don’t give the ever-popping conspiracy theories a platform. [Especially since most of those become the truth fairly quickly, it seems.] Agree on a small but important common denominator. Do fun activities together. Besides all the political commitment — don’t forget to live.
This interview first appeared on the “Vier” portal. I am grateful to my colleagues for kind permission to reprint.
Afterword from the translator:
As it was with the rise of the Nazis, the police carry out politically ordered “assassinations” again, character and otherwise. It has nothing to do with security. This is the instrumentalization of the police force as a special politically tooled thug-force against peaceful demonstrations. All doors are thrown wide open to arbitrariness, and real democracy is in danger of becoming a convenient byword and extinct. Also what I would love to be able to find out is: which billionaire is behind the “Der goldene Aluhut”?
Perhaps the rise of Schicklgruber wasn’t due to his supernatural skill as an orator or his ideology. He was just shrewd enough to lead a political party in the one country where the citizenry is predisposed to thuggish brutality provided it is authorized by a law.
Law enforcement, like politics, act as magnets to those individuals with sociopathic personalities. Those who enjoy inflicting pain on others are over represented in law enforcement. Expressing interest in being a politician or a cop should permanently disqualify an individual from being either one.
Please dont forget that there are not many young native germans left. So you can assume that alot of police forces are already consist of young migrants (islamic origin). Which means in conclusio that the evil behaviour of berlin police is not restricted to germany, but lies in genetic nature of all men regardless of nation.
Exactly.
POLICE HORNY TO USE FORCE
We’re looking forward to that, aren’t we Mogge?
‘Mogge’ is Sweden’s Minister of Justice.
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Polizei
Berlin, Corona-Proteste, Gastbeitrag, Politik, Polizeigewalt
Berlin police: conditions like in an authoritarian regimeShocking insider report: “Feel above the
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These are statements that take your breath away. What Berlin police officer Martin Schmidt (name changed) reports after 27 years in senior service in the capital is incredible.
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Easy to beat up Germans. Not so easy to touch culture enrichers.
Does this blood lust stop with the demonstrations, or does it continue with targeted people in regular life?
Angela Merkel.