BERLIN — A prominent lawmaker with the nationalist and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany party runs into trouble with police and Twitter over her response to a Cologne police tweet offering New Year greetings in Arabic.
Beatrix von Storch tweets her objections to Saturday’s tweet, saying: “Do they think they will calm the barbaric, Muslim, group-raping hordes of men this way?”
Von Storch’s Twitter account was blocked for several hours Monday over a suspected breach of rules on hate speech. Police say Tuesday they filed a criminal complaint to prosecutors over suspected incitement.
Von Storch is one of 92 lawmakers for Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the national parliament and her immunity from prosecution would have to be lifted for any investigation to be launched.
New Year celebrations in Cologne were overshadowed two years ago when hundreds of women complained of being groped and robbed, mostly by groups of migrants.
— AP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
