Head teacher alerts the police: 16-year-old taken out of class because of pro-AfD Smurf video
A schoolgirl distributes an AfD video and is subsequently visited by the police. The action during school hours outrages the AfD party leadership - who even press charges.
The police operation at a school in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania took place a few weeks ago, but the case made waves on Thursday: the Stralsund police station felt compelled to issue a press release after the mother of a pupil spoke to "Junge Freiheit" and reported on her daughter's case.
The 16-year-old had shared an advertising clip for the AfD on the social media channel Tiktok at the end of February, after which the school administration informed the police.
Prominent faces of the right-wing populist AfD party, including Alice Weidel and Beatrix von Storch, commented on the incident on Thursday. Weidel denounced "the methods used by the political elite against those who think differently". According to RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND), von Storch is pressing charges against the principal on suspicion of false accusations, coercion and "other possible criminal offenses".
The Smurfs are blue and so is Germany
On February 27 of this year, the Ribnitz-Damgarten police station reportedly received a tip-off from the school management to investigate a possible criminal matter. According to the information, a pupil had allegedly disseminated content relevant to state security on social networks.
"And then she once posted that Germany is not a place, but a home."
Mother of the accused
Mother of the accused
According to the mother of the accused, this was a "Smurfs video" that her daughter had posted on Tiktok a few months ago. In it, she told "Junge Freiheit" that Smurfs and Germany had something in common: The Smurfs are blue and so is Germany. "It was probably a funny AfD advertising post. And then she once posted that Germany is not a place, but home," the mother said.
After the head teacher reported the incident, the officers went to the school and, after inspecting the available information in the form of an email from a whistleblower, came to the conclusion that there was no initial suspicion of a criminal offense. "As there is sometimes a fine line between lawful and punishable actions," the police said, the officers decided, together with the school management, to hold a preventative educational talk with the 16-year-old.
The principal asked the pupil to leave the classroom. According to the police, the pupil showed understanding towards the police measures. The case was discussed with the mother by telephone and the reason for the
the reason for the intervention was explained in detail. She also showed understanding towards the police for the operation.
According to a report in "Bild", the mother later informed the AfD parliamentary group in the Schwerin state parliament about the police operation. "Hardly any student will dare to express their opinion freely on a social network in the future," wrote Weidel, leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, on the X platform.
Von Storch, the deputy chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, also wrote in her criminal complaint, according to "Junge Freiheit", that an aggravating factor was "that the principal, insofar as there was obviously no criminal or endangering behavior, acted in blatant violation of his duty of care for the pupil entrusted to him".
Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD) was also asked about the incident in the Schwerin state parliament on Thursday, according to RND. Pegel said that if the police were called, they would come. There had been a threat assessment. However, he did not see any difficulties with the operation. The police officers proceeded in such a way that no one was stigmatized. Pegel: "I do believe that proportionality was maintained."
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