Monday, August 24, 2015

Sunstar

No usage without explicit license agreement. Please share original link.  Usage with attribution/credit, but no agreement, is still unauthorized.

Times Square, golden hour, during a June heatwave.
Related:
NYC Midtown link
42nd St link
Chinatown, NYC here
Chinatown, Amsterdam here
Eclipse (Munich) here
Garmisch Classic herePoint/Counterpoint here
Prinzipalmarkt, Münster here
Goldrain (Coldrano), South Tirol here 
Welcome (France) here 
Skyline (NYC) here  
Sang (NYC) here

Sunday, August 16, 2015

III. Weg Militant Neonazi Group

No usage without explicit license agreement. Please share original link.  Usage with attribution/credit, but no agreement, is still unauthorized.

On August 15th, the III. Weg ("The Third Way"/"The Third Path") militant neonazi group demonstrated at the Mira shopping mall in Munich.  This same mall was chosen the week before by Philipp Hasselbach and die Rechte ("The Right") for one of their four demonstrations in the same day.  A few of those pictures will be below this post and will also indicate how they receive permission from Munich to demonstrate in the most public of areas, such as Marienhof.

The III. Weg is a "newer" organization, but only in name- it stems from the banned Freies Netz Sued, which was disbanded after a police raid of one of their homes in Obermenzing, Munich in 2013.  As is customary with German law, the ban was riddled with numerous, typical loopholes and, coupled with impotent politicians and law enforcement, enabled the Freies Netz Sued to simply change its name and continue on, relatively unhindered.  Despite being relatively small, they are militant enough that the German Verfassungsschutz (Office For The Protection Of The Constitution) issued a warning just two weeks prior.  Expected is an escalation of violence that they would play a role in.  Additionally, it is suggested that the III. Weg are the compilers of a Google Maps project where refugee dormitories were catalogued.  Google has done little against this, as have the German government and police.  The maps are likely provided by III. Weg to help support and increase the rising number of attacks against refugees and their dormitories.

Suprisingly, several prominent Bagida and die Freiheit members were in attendance, despite the fact that both claims to be against nazis, "not nazis", and variations thereof.  At this point, it appears that Bagida is allowing networking between the various rival right-radical groups and rival neonazi groups, radicalizing people further, and pushing them into joining militant organizations like III. Weg.  Examples of which will be in the captions under the photos.  Additionally, one elderly die Freiheit member was seen walking past, appearing to have aborted joining at the last moment when she saw the rather large turnout, including from the media.  The same applies for violent regular Rolf H., who often attacks journalists during die Freiheit and Bagida events.  He remained a distance away, likely due to a heavy media and anti-fascist presence.

Bizarrely, III. Weg organized this rally on a holiday, in front of a closed shopping mall, resulting in relatively close to zero exposure in this portion of the city.  Why this day was chosen, or if it was an oversight, remains open for confirmation/interpretation.  However, the turnout by counter-demonstrators and the media was rather encouraging.  Also, while still tense due to the incarceration of activist "Paul", the police actions appeared more oriented towards deescalation, rather than direct conflict with counter-demonstrators and media.

EDIT:  Online newspaper TZ (Tageszeitung) wrote an article, complete with a stock picture of the mall which served as the backdrop for the rally, with words essentially copied and pasted directly from the Munich Police page, article 1363.  In this entry, the Munich police made the ludicrous estimation (which was repeated, verbatim, by TZ) that, in a MILITANT neonazi demonstration of approximately 50, by an organizing group that had a nationwide warning issued against them by the Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection of the Constitution) for violence they could be involved in, who is the name-change successor of the Freies Netz Sued, which was banned and dissolved by authorities for militancy and radicalism, as well as contraband, who has convicted neonazi terrorists, a member convicted of trying to obtain bomb-making materials, and numerous other criminals among its membership, that only 7 out of 50 were "extremist"?  They were chanting "National Socialism NOW!"The prerequisite for joining III. Weg is to already be an extremist. Is there a sliding scale in use here, where everything becomes relative and when one sees an extremist group in front of them, then only the most extreme of the extreme are "extremists"? What were the other 43? Such practices are what currently endanger the public in Munich and Germany and will continue to be exploited by such militant groups throughout Germany as they expand and assert themselves more and more. The reason why the radical right is rising again in Germany is the will for them to assert themselves is greater than the will of Germans, the police, and government to admit it exists and to combat it.






The next question is regarding TZ: where is the journalism?  Their words were essentially copied from the police blotter, then they used a stock picture of the mall.  Apparently, they invested no time and research into what they wrote, perpetuating an incorrect account made by the police. Were they even there?  Is this part of the bigger problem where Germans prefer sugarcoated (verharmlosend) stories regarding the rise of the new radical right, rather than having the truth which would force them to face it?  Is the truth this dissonant to Germans?  Are they so afraid tourists and other countries will find out that Germany is rather soft overall on the radical right?  The radical right is rising again. This is fact. Most people will not admit it, most will try to cite faked numbers like these, or cite their small numbers to back their side up if anyone ever talks about it and tries to fight against it.  Remember: the NSU had only three primary members in it, which led to a nationwide scandal that went from the smallest levels of government all the way to the executive offices.

Germany needs to deal with this instead of constantly hiding it.

Related*:
Bagida Information Stand here
Pegida July here
Bagida Shifts Further To The Right here
Waffen-SS Division Charlemagne Memorial here
National Socialism Documentation Center Protest here  
Alternative for Germany rally here  
Montags (the last Bagida rally before an extended pause) here 
Further Escalation here
Conflict in the Old Botanical Garden (neonazi attack) here
Die Rechte II (same neonazi group as the Keup Street entry) here
 
Provocation here   
Keup Street Is Everywhere Keupstraße ist überall (neonazi rally) here
More Bagida here
Bagida VII here
Bagida VI here
Bagida V here
Point/Counterpoint (separately posted picture from this rally) here
Pegida Bagida (rally 4) here
Pegida Muegida here
NoPegida (record-breaking counter demonstration in Munich) here
Muenchen ist Bunt here
Kein Mensch (Dresden) Here
Muenster Keinen Meter here
July 26th, Munich here


From Russia Times:



Report from just one week ago on III. Weg, their militancy, arson attacks that might be attributed to them, and violent potential.



Leading the group: an attendee of the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial.



Bagida's long-term photographer with the ponytail, Petra K. of Brigade Giesing.  She is linked to various, high-profile figures of the hooligan and neonazi scene.  In the center is an attendee of the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial I covered.  He will be visible in later pictures.  He is also a regular Bagida attendee.
Participant in the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial, alongside long-time Bagida photographer.


Maria W., a regular Bagida attendee, who was all too happy to talk to the media until a member of III. Weg came over and scoldingly told her to end the interviews.


Petra K, Brigade Giesing, a Hooligan/radical right group, also associated with convicted neonazi terrorists Karl-Heinz Statzberger and Thomas Schatt.  She was recently seen in a video of an attack on a member of the public at the main train station.  Nothing came of it, despite being filmed, despite the station being police monitored, despite the station having a police office in it.
Peter Meidl, head of die Rechte Rosenheim, meeting with colleagues.  It appears he spent quite a bit of time recruiting.  In the foreground- tattoo with the word "Germania".  "Germania" is the name of the German empire planned by Hitler (also "Germany" in Romance languages).  Background- an attendee from the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS Memorial.  Regular Bagida attendee.

Right, posing for camera, a member of die Freiheit.
The other side of the above's arm.


These people were sympathetic towards III. Weg.  Some said he might have been inebriated, which is unconfirmed.  However, he and his companion spent quite a bit of time heckling counter-demonstrators and media and then suddenly blew up.  He was restrained by his companion, then police.  This led into a conflict between a gentleman in a Yankess baseball cap, who then charged at least two members of the media until being restrained and removed by police.




Man with Yankees hat in the background then immediately charged at least two members of the media and was removed by police.  It is believed he was an attendee of the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial.  Was seen the next day at a judicial process for a motorcycle gang member.

Media colleague braces self as the man charges him and is then restrained by police.
  

 
Convicted neonazi terrorist Thomas Schatt films protestors and  the faces of police.  He provoked protestors until he because surrounded by them, almost leading to a violent escalation twice.  He was then removed by numerous police, but brought back and only allowed to be within the security area.  One conflict is in the RT video above.  Schatt was convicted of trying to blow up a synagogue in Munich in 2003.
Thomas Schatt wears a green armband indicating "press".  The color and style is likely completely intentional, as the band mimicks the "police" bands worn by cops at demonstrations.  He has been previously spotted wearing clothing with words such as "police" on them.  It's open to speculation what he's trying to do.



A member of die Freiheit, a radical populist group who claims to be against Nazis, confronts an older counter-demonstrator aggressively and indicated some sympathies for III. Weg.  Again, die Freiheit is a party that claims to reject nazism, but numerous members cross over.  He is also a member of the German Defense League.
Bagida's photographer.

Thomas Schatt recording counter-demonstrators.

A Black Sun tattoo peeking out from her shirt.  The Black Sun is not exclusively related to neonazism, and is still often seen in Nordic countries, heavy metal circles, and in some Slavic countries (along with their own variation thereof) outside of right-wing contexts.  This symbol is not forbidden in Germany and is often used to take the place of the Swastika (Hakenkreuz). 

Peter Meidl, wearing a Black Sun medallion, with regular Bagida attendee Maria W.  The latter aired her support for National Socialism during the demonstration.

Thor Steinar fannypack.  Thor Steinar is a clothing brand closely associated with the neonazi scene, has been banned from several parliaments, and is used by police to identify right-wing and right-radical people on the streets.





Regular Bagida attendee on the right, wearing a Thor's Hammer necklace.  Curiously, they indicate protecting and observing German culture, but the apparent thing is that German culture isn't cool enough, so they have to import Nordic paganism/mythology/occultism into their belief system.  On the left, wearing a T-Shirt "Sektion Germania".  On the front is a silhouette holding a machine gun, pointing to the militant nature of III. Weg.

Peter Meidl, regular at these functions.  He was seen appearing bored several times, then playing with his smartphone.
Partial Black Sun in the design. "Only he who storms has the right to live".  The wearer of this shirt is said to have been caught by police for obtaining chemicals that could be used in bomb-making.


Center, Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial attendee.





Four prominent, regular Bagida attendees, from left to right.  The woman with black hair has been linked to Peter Meidl.  Gentleman looking into the camera was an attendee at the Bad Reichenhall Waffen SS memorial.

Woman looking at the camera and posing (numerous times) is a prominent Bagida attendee and has always been happy to pose for cameras.







Thor Steinar clothing

Detail of the tattoos of one of the prominently-featured III. Weg members.  The band-aid is often used during demonstrations to hide illegal markings in the tattoos.  It is unknown if that's the case here.
MB appearing very comfortable with the radical right.







Die Rechte Rallies:

Rallies by die Rechte, a party in Bavaria and Munich headed by Philipp Hasselbach, who is widely believed to be a puppet for the party and movement's true mastermind, Peter Meidl.

Among the locations, die Rechte demonstrated in Marienhof, directly behind city hall, and one of the most populated places in Munich, with numerous tourists walking past.  This presents Munich in a negative light, but the city's will to deal with it quickly becoming a center of right-radicalism is close to non-existent.  To deal with it would bring publicity to the fact that Germany is soft on its right-radical problem and always has been, despite the myths that circulate around the world that Germany doesn't tolerate nazis and right-radical spectrum groups.




"Made In Germany", worn by a far-right activist, written in English.
Lunikoff- band of a prominent nazi musician.  Banned in Germany.

The ever-prominent Peter Meidl behind Hasselbach.  As time goes on, Meidl reveals himself on an increasing basis as the real person behind die Rechte.


Bagida organizer posing.



Peter Meidl, stepping out more and more to reveal himself as Hasselbach's puppetmaster (a term often used by Nazis since the rise of Hitler).