Neo-Nazi party launches ‘street patrol’ in German town after migrant violence

BERLIN — A German neo-Nazi party has launched a vigilante street patrol in a Bavarian town where four Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers allegedly attacked passers-by last weekend, local authorities say Thursday.

The mayor of Amberg, Michael Cerny, says he was “shocked” after the National Democratic Party posted photos online of four people wearing red protective vests to create “safe spaces,” including outside a refugee center.

“I can understand the insecurity seen in some of the reactions of some Ambergers, but the hatred and the threats of violence from all over the country go way too far,” Cerny tells the local daily Mittelbayerische Zeitung.

Police say they are investigating the reports, which included a group calling itself “Kraut/pol” accusing town authorities in an email of failing to protect the citizens of Amberg.

Police last Saturday detained four men from Afghanistan and Iran, aged 17 to 19, who had allegedly drunkenly attacked passers-by at random.

Twelve people aged 16 to 42 suffered mostly minor injuries, and a 17-year-old was treated for head wounds in hospital.

The case revived a simmering debate over immigration, integration and crime that has flared since the mass influx of over one million asylum seekers from 2015.

— AFP

https://www.facebook.com/npdnuernberg/posts/2077417045615177?__xts__[0]=68.ARAVBiLOi7QnIREtRfzYqIT88rjS4Axm2afLopTKgbwy3oK8mFtYpd9wp5KGILMKr-vcebQCEvwfJz-7mGHNFB695vdkhx2XPdudNBnFvZbTZQ_8wZnKKcrBFnO8dsI56muXC8OmOmkOh4hs_qDTGYpH9B1of5OUZR1-Tr-prt3NygPlc7rvcJb9aRc_NASbMSiwCGC8ISLofsT6Li2XKd1qY5vrVkO1xWAEcNoI99Lyxz0hnXCl7Vm_15vGQvm3UZSVlX9GjSOtr0TzaxSXehJVzNBw945nsre-IH1h-w29g_snVjxdYQD9YBu7-kenJTcR-EhRiJB02sInUGYI6IZqY6fF&__tn__=-R