The Group Freital (also Freital vigilante, Bürgerwehr FTL/360 or FTL/360) was a German right-wing anti-Islamic group in Freital near Dresden.
History
editMembers of the group have attacked asylum accommodations with explosives and conducted several attacks on refugee supporters. Members of FTL/360 got support by some citizens of Freital, members of the group met in a pub of an AfD member on a regular term.[1]
Members of Gruppe Freital had first met in the summer of 2015 during protests against a refugee home in Freital, Saxony. Timo Schulz, a neo-nazi originally from Hamburg, worked as a bus driver in Freital and was leader of the terrorist gang. On July 27, 2015, members of the Freital Gruppe blasts an explosive device near the vehicle of a politician Michael Richter (member of the Left party [Die Linke]) in Freital.[2][3][4] Weeks later, members of FTL/360 threw fireworks at an apartment building housing refugees in the town, the attack only left shattered windows.[3][1]
In March 2016 federal police GSG9 arrested five members of FTL/360 in Freital.[5] Later, seven men and one woman were accused of terrorist crimes. An attack on a refugee apartment was assessed by the Higher Regional Court of Dresden (Oberlandesgericht Dresden) as an attempted murder:[6] FTL/360 members threw an explosive device at a refugee home in Frietal, the bomb dropped in the bedroom of refugees while they were sleeping. The attack left one Syrian refugee wounded by broken glass as a result of the explosion.[1][7]
In March 2018, members of FTL/360 were convicted for founding a terrorist organization, aiding on abetting crimes and attempted murder.[8][9]
References
edit- ^ a b c NDR. "Urteile gegen "Gruppe Freital" rechtskräftig". daserste.ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- ^ "Rechte Anschläge in Sachsen - Urteil gegen Mitglieder der "Gruppe Freital" erwartet". Deutschlandfunk (in German). 7 March 2018. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- ^ a b "A Lit Fuse". Vice News. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ^ "Near Dresden, explosion targets car of Leftist politician". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ^ SPIEGEL, Fidelius Schmid, Jörg Diehl, DER (19 April 2016). "Freital: GSG 9 nimmt fünf mutmaßliche Rechtsterroristen fest - DER SPIEGEL - Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ LTO. "BGH: 'Gruppe Freital' rechtskräftig verurteilt". Legal Tribune Online (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- ^ "Germans on trial over refugee attacks". BBC News. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ^ "'Freital Group' found guilty of terror crimes". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Ocho condenados en Alemania por formar una célula terrorista de ultraderecha". Europa Press. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-16.