Rampage driver was previously active in the right-wing extremist scene
After the car attack in Mannheim, investigators have ruled out a political motive. However, the man arrested was apparently part of the right-wing scene years ago.
The investigators have already made up their minds: The car attack in which two people were killed and eleven were injured, some seriously, in downtown Mannheim on Monday had no political background . Rather, there are concrete indications that the arrested Alexander S. was mentally ill. But now, according to the Antifa research group Exif , there are also indications that the 40-year-old was politically active at least in the past: in the right-wing extremist scene.
According to the report, photos show Alexander S. at a rally of right-wing extremists and Reich Citizens in Berlin in October 2018. Around 1,300 participants had joined the march of the alliance "We for Germany" at the time - shortly before, right-wing unrest had broken out in Chemnitz.
According to Exif, Alexander S. was also part of the "Ring Bund", a group associated with a right-wing extremist weapons network, at least in 2018. Alexander S. was listed in a list of people belonging to one of the activists there with the reference "Ring Bund". In addition, S. was instructed via email in September 2018 on how to exchange messages in the drafts folder of the "Ring Bund" account.
Right-wing extremist “Ring Bund” railed against “high finance”
According to Exif, the “Ring Bund” is said to have met in February 2018 in a property used by right-wing extremists in Guthmannshausen, Thuringia. Lectures were said to have covered the “theory of the revolutionary situation,” “violent resistance,” and a system of “global dominating high finance.”
The weapons network to which the "Ring Bund" was connected was discovered in 2020. According to investigation results, the network is said to have brought firearms, including Uzis and pump guns, from Croatia to Germany from 2015 to 2018. Three men were sentenced to prison terms of up to 4 years and 3 months by the Munich Regional Court in 2022.
At the time, the taz newspaper reported on internal emails from the group . According to them, members tried to connect with various right-wing extremist groups such as the Identitarians, Pegida, the "European Action" or the AfD. A separate group was also formed: the "Patriotic Alternative", which was intended to support the AfD.
With the evidence pointing to Alexander S.'s right-wing extremist past, the question now arises as to whether the Mannheim attack might have been politically motivated after all - and whether there were any accomplices to the plan.
Left demands clarification
Clara Bünger, a member of the Left Party in the Bundestag, criticised the fact that a man with a possible right-wing extremist past committed a fatal attack and "politicians look the other way". What is now needed is "clarification and answers about the perpetrator's background".
A spokesperson for the Mannheim police headquarters and a spokeswoman for the State Criminal Police Office told taz that the reports were known and that the evidence of Alexander S.'s right-wing extremist activities was being examined as part of the investigation. It remains to be determined whether these were relevant to the crime, said the police spokesperson. The arrested man's entourage is currently being questioned for this purpose. The search of Alexander S.'s apartment did not reveal any evidence of a motive. However, there are indications that S. was "in a state of psychological emergency" when he committed the crime.
Alexander S. was stopped by a taxi driver during the crime and arrested by the police shortly afterwards. An arrest warrant has now been issued against him. He did not provide any information about the crime.
According to information from the security authorities, Alexander S., who most recently lived in Ludwigshafen (Rhineland-Palatinate), had a criminal record in the past for assault, drunk driving and illegally carrying a blank-firing gun . In addition, he was convicted in 2018 for a Facebook comment that the authorities classified as right-wing "hate speech". However, there is no evidence of a political motive for the crime in Mannheim, emphasized Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU).
