After George Floyd's death in the US, SPD leader Saskia Esken said there was racism in the German police too. Now other parties and the police union have spoken out.
- In an interview, SPD leader Saskia Esken spoke about racism and police violence.
- The death of George Floyd * in the United States is not an isolated case, and there is racism in the police force in Germany .
- Other parties and the police union were critical.
Update of June 8, 2020: After SPD leader Saskia Esken also accused the German police of racism against the background of George Floyd's death in the United States , the Greens and the Left have joined the call for an independent complaint office.
The Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock said in Berlin: "We are lucky that we do not have the form of police violence that we experienced in the USA ". However, it is "good" that others are now joining the call for an independent police officer, as "nonetheless, people experience racism here every day".
The Union and the unions see no racism problem in the German police . According to the spokesman for the Union's political group, Mathias Middelberg (CDU), the police "certainly are not free of people with racist attitudes, but he does not see racism as a structural problem in our police ". Esken's general suspicion went too far. The CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak also sees it the same way, who is also reaffirmed at the police officer, who is also reaffirmed.
The federal chairman of the police union (GdP), Dietmar Schilff , and the chairman of the German police union, Rainer Wendt , rejected the accusation that there was "latent racism" among the German police. Wendt said that he even saw "considerably less" racism in the police than in the general population.
Saskia Esken accuses German police of racism and demands an independent investigation
Original article from June 8th:
After the African American George Floyd had suffocated * during a police operation in the USA , SPD leader Saskia Esken spoke in an interview about racism in Germany *. Speaking to the newspapers of the Funke media group, she said that there is also racism in the German police force that needs to be clarified.
USA / George Floyd: Saskia Esken accuses German police of racism and welcomes demonstrations
For this reason, the SPD leader welcomes the fact that people in Germany are protesting against racism and police violence as part of the “Black Lives Matter” movement * . "Tens of thousands of protesters around the world stand up because George Floyd's violent death from a police operation in the United States is not an isolated case," said Esken.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators across Europe show # solidarity for #BlackLivesMatter and peacefully protest against # racism and # police force - thank you!
Even if #Corona forces us to keep our distance: We stand together and fight racist #discrimination.
"But German demonstrators also look at the conditions on their own doorstep: In Germany too, there is latent racism in the ranks of the security forces , which must be recognized and combated by measures taken by the internal leadership," she continued.
At the weekend, after demonstrations in the United States *, tens of thousands of people took to the streets against racism in German cities , sometimes to silent protests. There were riots in Hamburg and Berlin .
USA / George Floyd: Saskia Esken accuses German police of racism and demands independent investigation
However, the vast majority of police officers are not racist and suffer from the fact that the population may lose confidence in them, Esken said. Nevertheless, she called for an “ independent body to deal with such complaints ” to deal with racists and right-wing extremists in uniform. When investigating cases of unjustified police violence, one should not give the impression that the police corps spirit plays a greater role than the rights of citizens ".
tk
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
