A young man is murdered. Murdered because he told a customer to obey a law that was supposed to protect him and others from harm. Sounds like the beginning of a bad movie? You’re probably right about that. Unfortunately, however, this is exactly what happened in the southern German town of Idar-Oberstein…. and all because of a face mask….
Not only since this murder has there been discussion in Germany about the potential radicalisation of Corona deniers – of which experts have been warning for some time.
In an interview with tagesschau.de, researcher Andreas Zick warns against violence-oriented Corona deniers. During the pandemic, “new groups of vaccination opponents have formed who have now combined their opposition to vaccination with political ideologies”.There have always been vaccination opponents and critics in Germany as well as in other countries. “But they were focused on vaccination or the pharmaceutical industry,” Zick explains. “With the pandemic, many of the anti-vaccination activists identified with the ‘lateral thinker’ movement and this identification goes hand in hand with the adoption of conspiracy narratives, ideas of resistance against the state and precisely a radicalisation.” In such movements, radical groups and cells then form, Zick explains further. Police, security forces and the media are “increasingly aggressively attacked”.
More information (in German): https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/impfgegner-corona-101.html