Photo: Max Ducourneau on Unsplash
In service of Germany’s increasingly anti-pluralistic state apparatus, the country’s mainstream press is striving to justify the state’s political intimidation of Loretta, a 16-year-old student who recently was removed from class and questioned by police for expressing support for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and posting right-wing content online.
This week, in the wake of widespread indignation sparked by an interview with Loretta and her mother where the two discussed the incident at the 16-year-old’s high school in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Die Welt published an article with the police description of screenshots from social media that instigated the police operation.
Included in Die Welt’s article are screenshots of Loretta’s social media profile that were allegedly sent to the administration at Richard-Wossidlo-Gymnasium by an anonymous source. The photos—passed on to the police before they were subsequently leaked to Die Welt and other newspapers—are being cited by the mainstream press as ‘evidence’ that Loretta has ‘right-wing extremist’ sympathies.
For Die Welt and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Loretta’s Helly Hansen jacket, Pit Bull hat, and use of the German flag, text in old German script, and certain number combinations—all pictured on her social media profile—present clear ‘proof’ that she is a hate-filled extremist.
The police description of Loretta’s social media page reads as follows:
Pictured: presumably Tiktok: head of an apparently female person with obviously light hair, labeled knitted hat and hood on and covered up so that only the eye area can be seen. In the foreground is “nix yallah yallah.” The username at the bottom left has an additional symbol of a German flag, underneath the number 1161 and various hashtags underneath (“#foryou #fürdich # fyp # fy. more”) The lettering on the hat could be “Pit Bull West Coast since 1989” and the number 1161 is used on the Internet for Anti (1) Antifa (161). The hoodie/jacket has the letters “HH” embroidered on it.
According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Loretta’s decision to sport the popular Helly Hansen brand is a clear indication of her sympathies toward Hitler and Nazism since some right-wing extremists are known to like the brand.
“This brand is trending everywhere again right now, that’s why she’s wearing it,” Loretta’s mom said when asked if her daughter was making a subtle pro-Hitler reference through her choice of clothing.
Screenshots of Loretta’s Instagram profile, featuring innocuous statements like “German is spoken in Germany” and “homeland, freedom, tradition, multicultural final destination,” are cited by the authors of the Die Welt article as evidence of the student’s xenophobia.
The story about the 16-year-old student has been dominating headlines since it emerged approximately a week ago. Some, like Hubertus Knabe, the former head of the Stasi memorial in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, have expressed particular horror at the news. Days ago, he told BILD that the incident reminded him of the times during the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
“The occasion, an email about a video, in no way justifies such an approach, as it can permanently disturb minors. The incident also shows where the state-sponsored trend of denouncing your fellow human beings in all possible places can lead,” he said.
Stefan Kerth (independent), the district administrator of Vorpommern-Rügen, where Loretta’s high school is situated, remarked that the day police removed Loretta out of class for questioning was “not a good day for trust in freedom of expression and in people in public service.”
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s state parliament’s education committee is set to address the incident next Tuesday, March 26th
General Secretary of the CDU Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Daniel Peters has referred to the state government’s comments on the incident as wholly inadequate, saying: “The whole thing is outrageous and the government’s explanations so far are very unsatisfactory. I demand complete clarification.”
Sharp criticism has come from the AfD camp as well, with MP Beatrix von Storch, deputy chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group, filing a complaint against the director of the school “on suspicion of false suspicion, coercion, and all other possible criminal offenses.”
“[T]he headmaster, insofar as there was obviously no criminal or dangerous behavior, acted in blatant violation of his duty of care for the student entrusted to him,” von Storch wrote.
Jan-Dirk Zimmermann, the headmaster of the school, has defended his actions, claiming that he was just following the rules.
The case is expected to be discussed in the Bundestag on Friday, March 22nd.