Germany shuts down Antifa-related website responsible for G-20 summit violence
German authorities on Friday made an unprecedented move by shutting down an Antifa-related website that is believed to be responsible for the protests that took place during the G-20 summit last month, Fox News reported.
About the website
According to the Local, a German newspaper, the website is believed to be the “most influential platform for the militant left.”
“The prelude to the G-20 summit in Hamburg was not the only time that violent actions and attacks on infrastructural facilities were mobilized on linksunten.indymedia,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said, the New York Times reported.
The website was founded in 2008 and dubbed the “weapon of the social struggle” in Germany, the Times reported. Organizers used the website as a hub to coordinate social movements around the world.
Users frequently boasted about their criminal activity and political crimes, the Local reported.
About the raid
Police raided properties that belonged to the website’s management team. No one was arrested but computer equipment was seized, the Local reported.
“At the moment several premises are being searched,” Interior Minister Thomas Strobl told the Local Friday morning. “This step marks a major blow against the extreme left in Germany.”
Behind the G-20 Summit
During the G-20 summit, more than 20,000 police officers were deployed and more than 400 people were arrested. De Maizière believes the website was used to stir up the militant left. He also said the website has been utilized for years to create chaos and invoke violence in Germany.
According to authorities, the website provided protesters with instructions on how to create Molotv cocktails, a homemade version of a grenade.
The website was also used to “legitimize violence against police officers,” something deMaizière says is unacceptable and goes against the country’s “democratic order,” the Times reported.
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