As the number of left wing extremist incidents rise, the German domestic intelligence agency has released a report on left wing extremism that shows the majority of the “radicals” still live at home with their parents.
The Agency for the Protection of the Consitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence organisation, has released statistics that paint a picture of the left wing extremist scene in the capital of Berlin from 2009 to 2013. The makeup of left-radicals is largely male with only 16 per cent of 873 identified left-extremists being women, German magazine Bild reports.
The average age of left-extremists is between 21 and 24 and 78 per cent of the total are between the ages of 18 and 28. The vast majority, nine out of ten, are also not in any kind of romantic relationship.
The districts of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Neukölln are the most likely for left wing radicals to live in Berlin with half of the known extremists reside in the two districts. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is especially well known in Berlin for its left wing scene; in the recent Berlin election in December the left wing Green party polled 32.8 per cent of the vote and the far left Die Linke came in second with 20.9 per cent.
The district has had a long history with violent leftists. In 1987, the so-called “Revolutionary May 1st demonstrations” saw 30 shops looted and massive amounts of violence and property damage.
Also located in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is the left extremist squat known as “Riga 94” which police attempted to clear last year. The attempted eviction led the left wingers to riot and destroy property in the area.
The report also revealed one-third of the left activists are unemployed. In terms of education, only 29 per cent have a high school diploma and 34 per cent have the equivalent of GCSEs.
Berlin Interior Senator Frank Henkel of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union said, “most politically motivated violent crime comes from the left wing scene”.
Mr. Henkel joins others like Thomas Rath, Chief of the Göttingen police forces, who claims he was shocked at the scale of left wing violence toward his officers.
95 per cent of the violent crimes committed by the extremists, many under the so-called “Anti-Fascist Action” banner, are personal assaults, resisting police officers, or acts of arson. Setting cars on fire is a favoured tactic which was used during the Riga 94 protests. Frauke Petry, leader of the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD), had her car torched in a suspected arson attack by far left extremists.
At least 12 cases of attempted murder have also been committed by far left extremists. Of the over 900 violent acts, 59 per cent were directed toward individuals and of that number four out of five were police officers. Only 15 per cent of the victims have been right wing supporters.
Despite the huge presence of left extremism, the new Berlin left wing government claims that radical right wingers are the biggest threat to Berliners. This is according to a report released shortly after the December Berlin terror attack which ignored left wing extremism entirely.