Last week, Germany announced plans to surveil those who the Gestapo 2.0 has labeled as “coronavirus-deniers.”
The New York Times reported the country’s federal government believes these individuals – who have been identified as conspiracy theorists – pose a growing risk to the state.
“Our basic democratic order, as well as state institutions such as parliaments and governments, have faced multiple attacks since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the country’s Interior Ministry said, according to the report.
The report said many of the deniers have identified themselves as part of the QAnon movement and have flashed anti-Semetic signs.
The Times reported that the movement has been referred to as Querdenken, which means “lateral thinking.” Many of the members follow certain social media accounts on the encrypted social media platform Telegram.
Many took part in a protest that occurred in Berlin in April to voice outrage over new lockdown orders. The BBC reported that the anti-lockdown demonstrations have attracted support from the far-right AfD party and anti-vaxxers. Members of the “Reichsbuerger” movement, which denies the existence of the modern German state, have also joined the movement, Reuters reported.
The report said these so-called anti-lockdown extremists do not fit one mold, and they include members of the far-right and far-left communities, thus the country’s intelligence officials created the blanket category of “actions that delegitimize the state, thereby threatening the constitution.”
Reuters reported that the movement began during a small protest in the German city of Stuttgart in 2020 but has grown due to the increasing frustrations in the country over lockdown orders. Germany says the group is building off of this anger. According to Reuters, Angela Pley, a BfV spokeswoman, said,
“Legitimate protests against the coronavirus politics are being repeatedly and increasingly exploited to provoke an escalation…
Organizers of demonstrations, which are mainly led by protagonists of the Querdenker movement, have an agenda that goes beyond protesting against the state’s measures against the coronavirus.”
Oliver Nachtwey, a sociology professor in Basel, told the paper it is a “very heterogeneous movement.”
“It’s a turning away from the political system,” he said. “And it’s being done with a sort of regressive rebelliousness.”
TREND FORECAST: The trend continues. Anyone – race, creed, color does not matter – who does not believe in and/or does not want to fight the COVID War will be labeled a traitor by governments and must be closely watched. And in the hi-tech world of surveillance, every step you take, every breath you make, they’ll be watching you.
And those who do not believe what their politicians and bureaucrats tell them will continue to be denounced by the media and politicians as “conspiracy theorists.”
Again, we maintain our forecast for strong anti-vax and anti-establishment movements across the globe.
TRENDPOST: Our 19 January article, “TWITTER’S KING MULLS MORE CENSORSHIP,” defined QAnon as a conspiracy theory in which there is a high-ranking government official known as “Q” who has been dropping cryptic clues on online message boards. One of the theories, according to the AP, is that President Trump was waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex-trafficking ring.
