The following report is from the New York Times:
Germany’s domestic intelligence service said on Wednesday that it would surveil members of the increasingly aggressive coronavirus denier movement because they posed a risk of undermining the state.
The movement — fueled in part by wild conspiracy theories — has grown from criticizing coronavirus lockdown measures and hygiene rules to targeting the state itself, its leaders, businesses, the press and globalism, to name a few. Over the past year, demonstrators have attacked police officers, defied civil authorities and in one widely publicized episode scaled the steps of Parliament.
Our basic democratic order, as well as state institutions such as parliaments and governments, have faced multiple attacks since the beginning of the measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement confirming that parts of the denier movement would be under observation.
The Interior Ministry oversees the intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
In announcing the decision to keep tabs on conspiracy theorists, intelligence officials noted the movement’s close ties to extremists like the Reichsbürger, a network of groups that refuse to accept the legitimacy of the modern German state.
Many coronavirus deniers say they also believe in QAnon conspiracy theories, and protesters are frequently seen holding signs with anti-Semitic tropes.
The movement, called Querdenken, German for lateral thinking, communicates and recruits over social media and has a large presence on the encrypted chat service Telegram, where its main channel has 65,000 subscribers. Parts of AfD, a German right-wing populist party that is also under surveillance, have allied themselves with protesters.
Still, the Interior Ministry took pains to say that the danger from coronavirus deniers and conspiracy theorists does not fit the mold posed by the usual, politically driven groups, including those on the far left and right, or by Islamic extremists. As a result, the authorities are setting up a new department specifically tasked with handling cases that seek to delegitimize the state.
The news comes days after Germany instituted new virus rules that apply nationwide and allow the federal government to enforce lockdowns. (Such regulation had previously been in the hands of the country’s 16 states.) It also suggests that the authorities believe coronavirus denier groups could continue to flourish and pose a threat after the pandemic ends.
It is an open and very heterogenous movement. It’s a turning away from the political system. And it’s being done with a sort regressive rebelliousness.
Oliver Nachtwey, a sociology professor in Basel, who said the deniers reflected another iteration of the social movements that have sprung from mistrust in democracy and its institutions.
Mr. Nachtwey said he understood the federal authorities’ rationale in keeping tabs on the movement, but he wondered if putting it under surveillance would not worsen matters.
The decision might lead to hardening of the position or even further radicalization because effectively the state is confirming its overreach.
A week ago, when Parliament passed the law giving the government powers to impose the latest lockdown, about 8,000 of the movement’s activists took to the streets in Berlin before being dispersed by the police for ignoring mask and distancing rules. Germany has seen a persistently high number of new daily cases recently, averaging about 19,000, up from about 8,000 two months ago.
Last August, when restrictions were relatively light, the deniers drew 40,000 protesters to Berlin. While most were peaceful, even if eschewing masks and social distancing measures, a small number managed to jump police lines and climb Parliament’s outside stairs, a breach of security that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier characterized as an “attack on the heart of democracy.”
The national intelligence agency’s formal observation of the deniers’ group is the first step in a process that could lead to it being declared unconstitutional and ultimately banned.
Pia Lamberty, a psychologist and expert in the German conspiracy scene, warned of connections between the deniers and far-right extremists. “The danger of Querdenken,” she said, “has long been underestimated.”
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
[9] By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. [10] But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; [11] Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? [12] There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. [13] Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. Job 35:9-13
I am not even going to address the Covid propagandistic spin the Times put on this report: you already know the drill if you read our reports.
But to put it simply, according to Job 35, this oppression and draconian tyranny will not reside until the masses repent and turn to God. If they do not (and they won’t) the oppression will get worse. Same applies to America, Canada, U.K., Spain, China, Australia, Israel, etc.
[1] There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. [2] And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? [3] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. [4] Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.Luke 13:1-5
We noted a report in early February that German police were enforcing mask mandates on the toboggan slopes, actually chasing down non-mask wearers and giving them citations.
Coronazis Fine Germans For Not Wearing A Mask While Sledding
Lastly, based on what you read in this report from the Times, this is why The WinePress has been hot on the trail rebuking and exposing Qanon. Because now the media and the governments of the world can use Q for an excuse for anything, whether those people ascribe to that or not, to crack down on tighter security monitoring and censorship – just as we said it would – and is further playing out before us.
Operation “Trust:” The 100-Year-Old Psy-op Repackaged As Qanon
Must Read: ‘Christian Nationalism’ Is Hindering Broad Vaccination
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