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Banner of the Stuttgart »lateral thinking« offshoot at a demo against the Corona rules
Photo: Christian Spicker / imago images
Good Friday is a day of contemplation and rest.
For many of the citizens of Stuttgart, however, it was a little different: their phone rang and a tape announcement called them to take part in a “lateral thinking” demonstration.
It is about protecting "democracy," said a voice.
Then the time and place for the demo planned on Saturday against the government's corona measures were announced.
The telephone campaign is the latest trick in the context of the "thinking outside the box" scene.
However, the automated calls are illegal - because the telephone advertising violates the law.
The news site T-Online had first reported on the case.
Police confirm dozens of "automated calls"
The police confirmed to SPIEGEL that they had received dozens of complaints from citizens about "automated calls."
Accordingly, more residents from the city area reported and reported anonymous calls in which they were asked to join the "lateral thinkers" protests in the city.
For Saturday, "lateral thinking 711", the Stuttgart branch of the nationwide group, called for a large demonstration.
Around 2500 people are expected to attend a rally in the afternoon on the Cannstatter Wasen alone.
Further meetings in other locations in Stuttgart have already been announced for noon.
The city of Stuttgart announced on Friday that it had no means of banning the demonstration.
Up to EUR 300,000 fine for "cold calls"
The police cannot do anything about the calls either - the Federal Network Agency is responsible.
Unauthorized advertising calls to which you have not given your consent in advance are called cold calls.
The website of the Federal Network Agency says what threatens the operators: "In the event of evidence of a crime, fines of up to 300,000 euros can be imposed." But who is behind the calls is still unclear.
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Screenshot from wemgehoert.de with complaints about the »lateral thinking« advertising number
According to the police, the calls came from numbers with the Berlin area code 030 and the Dresden area code 0351. In most cases, the alleged number was 030/77331133 - the service portal wemgehoert.de received several complaints about the number.
The vast majority classify the number as "dangerous" or "unbearable".
"To violate my basic rights with this cold call so that I 'stand up for democracy' is ironic," writes one person.
Another writes of "harassment calls" and calls for prostates to be banned: "That's enough - when will the pro virus demos finally be banned?"
“Thinking outside the box” distances itself - a little
The Stuttgart “lateral thinking” initiators themselves claim to “T-Online” that they have nothing to do with the calls.
But they don't want to distance themselves either.
Greet "all people who stand for democracy and the rule of law".
It is therefore possible that sympathizers of the group acted unauthorized.
"Lateral thinking" has been observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since the end of 2020.
Baden-Württemberg was the first state to start monitoring.
Stuttgart is the center of the »lateral thinkers«, founded by entrepreneur Michael Ballweg as the broadest possible group against the government's corona measures.
Moderate critics initially demonstrated side by side with "Reich citizens", esotericists and supporters of conspiracy myths.
The rallies are now almost exclusively dominated by radicals.
The protection of the constitution count several important actors in the milieu of the "Reichsbürger" and so-called self-administrators who negate democratic and constitutional structures and deny the existence of the Federal Republic.