Halle Case Opens

Back in October of 2019, I essayed a piece or two over the attack in Halle, Germany.  Briefly, this was a young German guy (27), who'd tried to enter a Jewish synagogue with the intention of killing a number of people.  The door was secured, and he failed on that effort....instead killing one person on the street.  He'd walk away from the scene and arrive at a Turkish kebab shop...killing a customer there.

Full charges?  Two murder charges and seven charges of attempted murder. 

No one argues over the deed, and it should be a rather simple court case.

Well....it opened yesterday, and with a serious amount of security built into the case....the judge allowed the guy to start making a statement.  It's hard to say what the intent of the guy was, or the intent of the judge. 

MDR (regional public TV for the state) did a great opening piece and I'd strongly recommend a read.

The statement?  Fairly blunt, and eventually reached a problem stage when he talks about his life and the 2015 period.  He brings up migrants and Muslims....opening a point where the judge wanted him to quiet down.   The general 'push' here?  If he continued to demonstrate racist tendencies in the court....he'd be removed and not participate in the case.

Nazi-like?  Maybe....but the problem of mental competence is going to come up and one might go and suggest that a mental evaluation will deem him marginally able to live in the real world, and maybe he'll end up in a mental facility rather than an actual prison.

An idiot?  That's another curious part of the story....after some time in the Bundeswehr (the Army), he went off and spent a year at the Halle University....studying chemistry.  A criminal history or on some government watch-list for right-wingers?  No. 

I noticed one of the networks mentioned last month....he actually attempted to escape from some jail-house where he was housed....being out for roughly five minutes before guards recovered the guy.  Since then, he's been in a maximum security location.  Even yesterday, if you watch the video of him being brought into the court....he's escorted by five guys. 

Completing the case without issues?  One might have doubts about this.  He's apparently not intimidated by the judge or the threat of a lifetime in prison.  He's also likely to say a few more things of a racist nature before the end of the court episode.