M I don’t want to be Alexander Dobrindt. This is true in general (and) for many reasons. But above all, you don’t want to be in the shoes of a conservative CSU interior minister who, in his role as interior minister, but also as a right-wing agitator, is expected to demonstrate success in the fight against the radical left.
In this specific case, Dobrindt would like to gloss over the investigation into the attack on the power grid in southwest Berlin. The federal government has offered one million euros for information about the so-called volcano group and a broad public search was launched, with posters that only referred to the bounty without any information.
But while Dobrindt wants to portray himself as a doer, his announcement reveals two things in particular: The absurdly high sum – 40 times as much as was paid to capture RAF member Daniela Klette – shows, on the one hand, that the investigative authorities are completely in the dark. Even darker than the streets in Steglitz-Zehlendorf at the beginning of the year.
On the other hand, the bounty offered reveals how clueless conservatives and security authorities are when it comes to radical leftists. Being left-wing means, first of all, not allowing yourself to be bought, especially not by the state. This applies all the more to that small part of the scene in which the volcano group(s) are located, which no longer relies on the ability of society to be reformed but has renounced it.
Under the label of “volcano groups” are mainly in Berlin and Brandenburg attacks on the infrastructure have been carried out since 2011. 15 years in which security authorities have not come one step closer to the probably different groups of perpetrators. And there is nothing to suggest that this will change any time soon.
In view of the widespread rejection of aimless sabotage actions against the civilian population, even within the radical left, there is much to suggest that isolated, completely autonomous anarchist circles operate here. Small groups that don’t aim for scene fame and keep the circle of people who know things extremely limited.
Constructed terrorism
In view of Dobrindt’s full-bodied announcement that he will arm himself against left-wing extremism, any lack of success in the investigation will also be his personal defeat. This is all the more serious because the Interior Minister himself, and with him many others in politics and the media, have raised the sabotage actions to the level of terrorism, i.e. on a level with violent crimes up to and including murder. Even if the consequences of sabotage actions are sometimes unforeseeable, the motivation to destroy people is obviously not behind them.
But the upgrading of the left to the same level as the NSU or the IS corresponds to a right-wing zeitgeist. Most recently, the US government had the so-called Antifa East was declared a terrorist organization and even offered $10 million for informationwhich serve to break the connection. Dobrindt’s Interior Ministry and the Federal Criminal Police Office are now following this focus. This is nothing new: the biggest threat to the conservative establishment has always been the left.
As always, this also serves to expand security and monitoring structures. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is to receive additional positions for its snooping against leftists, and more powers have also been announced for investigators in automatic facial recognition and the storage of IP addresses. Dobrindt can at least count that as a success.