Statistics from the German federal government have revealed that 2021 saw the largest number of politically motivated crimes reported since the Federal Criminal Police Office began recording statistics in 2001.

The number of politically motivated crimes rose by six per cent in 2021, for a total of 47,303 offences reported to police, according to data obtained by populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Martin Hess after a request to the federal government.

The increase is not said to have been caused by a surge of far-right or far-left extremism but noted that the Wuhan coronavirus and the effect it has had on German society likely has influenced the number of so-called politically motivated crimes, German newspaper Die Welt reports.

According to the state, there were over 19,000 crimes reported to have had a far-right motivation compared to 17,000 that were uncategorized and 9,000 said to have originated from far-left extremists.

Some have voiced issues with how politically motivated crimes are recorded in the past, however. One such case was a 19-year-old Afghan migrant who in 2018 gave German police officers a Hitler salute and was recorded as having committed a far-right crime, according to Munich police.

The 2021 statistics also revealed that politically motivated violence had decreased by six per cent from the prior year. The data reveals that 1,047 violent crimes were attributed to persons not considered to be far-right, far-left or Islamic radicals.

The number is a large increase from 2020 when 591 acts of violence were attributed to uncategorized political motivations with 98 of the 120 violent crimes against public officials appearing to be committed by people with an uncategorized political motivation.

Over the course of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Germany has seen many protests against lockdowns, vaccine passports and other policies enacted by the government.

Last year in August, protestors in Berlin clashed with police, who arrested around 600 people at an event organized by the Querdenker (Lateral Thinkers) anti-lockdown movement, which had been banned by German courts earlier in the year over claims the protests could help spread the coronavirus.

 

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com