The Victim Perspective published the statistics on right-wing, racist and antisemitic violence in Brandenburg in 2021.
The background paper on the figures can be read here: www.opferoptik.de/aktuelles/statistics-2021
Slight increase in right-wing violence — More attacks on political opponents
The steady decline in right-wing violent crimes recorded in recent years did not continue in 2021. With a total of 150 violent crimes (2020: 137), the number increased slightly for the first time since 2018. One of the registered incidents this year was a right-wing homicide with four fatalities.
Racism remains the main motive – the proportion of attacks on political opponents has increased
The right-wing mobilization against infection control measures, which was intensified in 2021, is likely to be decisive for the renewed increase in violent crime. Compared to the previous year, a thematic shift in the motivation for the crime could be observed, which put political opponents more in the focus of attacks. In this context, a new subfield of right-wing violence has emerged. The victim perspective registered 12 acts of violence in connection with the right-wing mobilization against the Corona regulations (2020: 4). At 23 incidents, the proportion of attacks on political opponents has also increased significantly compared to the previous year (2020: 9).
” We are observing with great concern the increasing willingness to use violence and radicalization within the pandemic denial movement,” says Anne Brügmann, project coordinator of Victims’ Perspective. “Therefore, from our point of view, it is also a serious omission on the part of the Brandenburg state government not to have condemned the right-wing homicide in Senzig with four fatalities sufficiently and clearly enough,” says Martin Vesely, adviser to the victims’ perspective.
The proportion of racist acts of violence fell to 65.3 percent (2020: 76.6%). Despite this decline, racism remains the main motive for the recorded crimes. A total of 202 people were directly affected by the attacks last year (2020: 196).
Regional shift in the attack focus to the southern counties
The regional distribution of right-wing attacks in 2021 has shifted compared to the previous year. The districts with the most registered right-wing attacks in 2021 are in southern Brandenburg, while in the previous year there were districts in northern Brandenburg. As in previous years, the largest cities, Potsdam with 18 (2020: 15) and Cottbus with 16 violent crimes (2020: 13), each recorded the most attacks. The districts with a strong increase in right-wing acts of violence were Dahme-Spreewald with 16 (2020: 5) and Teltow-Fläming with 11 attacks (2020: 6).
