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They armed themselves with hammers and telescopic batons and used them to hunt neo-Nazis. They then beat their victims, smashing their skulls and ankles.
They are said to have injured a total of thirteen alleged and actual neo-Nazis, some of them life-threateningly: the Hammer Gang. The group was led by Lina E.* (28). The left-wing extremist criminals were active in East Germany for years. In Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt.
Last February, at least eight German left-wing extremists are said to have attacked suspected neo-Nazis in Budapest and injured them, some seriously, with kicks, blackjacks and gas.
Goal: to push aside the political opponent
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office classifies the Hammer gang as part of a criminal organization that “existed in and around Leipzig by 2018 at the latest,” as the newspaper “Bild” reports. Their goal: to attack political opponents based on a militant extremist ideology and force them to abandon all political activities. According to German authorities, the Hammer Gang rejects the rule of law.
According to information from ‘Bild’, leader Lina E. has been a member of the ‘Hammer Gang’ since August 2018 at the latest. She was born in Kassel (Hesse), the daughter of a social worker and a senior teacher. She grew up there and later graduated from high school there. She then moved to Leipzig to study social pedagogy in Halle. Her bachelor’s thesis would be on the topic “Dealing with neo-Nazism in youth work”.
The Federal Criminal Police Office is looking for an Es Partner
Lina E. is said to be engaged to Johann Guntermann (30), who is also active in the left-wing extremist scene. He was also considered the “central” head of the Hammer gang in 2018, according to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
As “Bild” further reports, Guntermann had the words “Hate” and “Cops” tattooed on him. In 2018, he was sentenced to 19 months in prison for serious breach of the peace for attacking the Leipzig district court with stones. He is also said to have been present during a raid on a neo-Nazi bar. And he is also said to have been one of the attackers in Budapest.
In a trial against the alleged left-wing extremist and three other defendants, the Saxony High Court in Dresden imposed several years in prison last summer. Lina E. was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, partly for membership of a criminal organization. The co-suspected men received prison sentences ranging from two years to five months and three years and three months. Guntermann was not there; the Federal Bureau of Investigation is still looking for him.
Connections with Switzerland
Research by “NZZ am Sonntag” now shows that in Switzerland, the Federal Intelligence Service (NDB) also warns of increasing left-wing extremist violence in its latest situation report. Swiss left-wing extremists must increasingly show solidarity with violent German groups, including the Brutalo gang from Germany!
According to “NZZ am Sonntag”, there have been incidents in Switzerland in the past that are reminiscent of the actions of the Hammer Gang. For example, in 2019, a left-wing extremist gang attacked a group of men in broad daylight and hit them with bicycle chains and bottles. One of the attackers, ETH PhD candidate Martin S.** (32), was arrested on the basis of DNA evidence. He later had to appear in court, but was not convicted – because there was not enough evidence to convict him. According to the indictment, he allegedly had close ties to the left-wing extremist scene in Germany and was involved in riots at the G20 summit in Hamburg (D) in 2017.
In the summer of 2022, according to “NZZ am Sonntag”, another incident was recorded in Zurich in which masked people beat up a man with suspected right-wing extremist tattoos on the Lower Latvians. Despite a year and a half since the crime, the case has not yet been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service because the police have not yet been able to identify the perpetrators. (oco)
* Name of the editor known
**Name changed
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
