Germany bans neo-Nazi group as far-right gains strength
German authorities on Wednesday carried out sweeping raids across the country after banning the neo-Nazi group known as White Wolves Terror Crew, or WWT.
Police seized weapons and propaganda materials but arrested no members of the group during raids in 10 states, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a statement.
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"This is a group of neo-Nazis who spew hate openly against our country, against our society, against people with different political opinions, against migrants and also against police," said de Maiziere.
He said the WWT's goal was to establish a Nazi-style dictatorship by any means, including spreading xenophobic messages and using extreme violence.
"Right-wing extremist groups like the WWT have no place in Germany," de Maiziere added.
"I am saying to the activists in the far-right extremist scene: the state is watching you."
WWT was founded in 2008 as a fan-club of the extreme right skinhead band Weisse Woelfe before transforming into an gang that promotes far-right violence, AFP reported.
The items seized by police on Wednesday included a rifle, a crossbow, data carriers, mobile phones, tasers, throwing stars and Nazi paraphernalia.
The raid and the ban on WWT comes after the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany made gains in three state elections last Sunday.
But far-right groups have gained strength as Germany struggles to cope with a massive influx of more than a million refugees.
Germany has seen a sharp rise in attacks against refugees and their homes in recent months. The government has responded by banning several far-right groups. Nine such groups have been banned since 2012, according to the DPA news agency.
In January, German prosecutors charged three men and one woman with forming a far-right group and planning to bomb a refugee shelter, The Associated Press reported.
That group, which went by the name Oldschool Society, discussed how to manufacture explosives and the possibility of attacking Islamic extremists and asylum seekers in Germany, according to the news agency.
The interior Minister, de Maiziere, said Wednesday's ban on the WWT was intended to send a message to right-wing radicals.
"I am saying to the activists in the far-right extremist scene: the state is watching you. We are acting against you. We will do this with resolve and rigor," de Maiziere said.
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Christopher is Mashable's Senior Correspondent covering world news, particularly the post-Soviet space and especially Ukraine, where he lived and worked for more than five years. As an editor at Ukraine's Kyiv Post newspaper, Christopher was part of the team that won the 2014 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism for coverage of the Euromaidan Revolution, Russia's annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. Besides Mashable, he has published with The Telegraph, The Times, The Independent and GlobalPost from such countries as Greece, Italy, Israel, Russia and Turkey, among others, as well as from aboard a search and rescue ship off the Libyan coast. Originally from rainy Portland, Oregon, he is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Ukraine) currently based in New York.
