New details have emerged regarding the controversial search of a 17-year-old’s residence in Menden, North Rhine-Westphalia, which has since been declared unlawful. Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) disclosed during a session of the state parliament’s interior affairs committee in Düsseldorf that a “clear bias” had been identified in a police officer involved in the initial investigation. This officer, it was revealed, had conducted inquiries independently and without official authorization, even requesting a cell phone tower analysis.
Christina Kampmann, the interior policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group in North Rhine-Westphalia, commented, “The whole story is becoming increasingly bizarre”. She emphasized that cell phone tower analyses are typically reserved for cases involving significant criminal activity, not for instances of vandalism, even if offensive. It appears excessive force may have been employed, disregarding proportionality and due process.
The officer in question, who is also a local politician with the CDU, is under scrutiny for potentially having “personal motivations” according to reports.
Earlier in the year, police conducted a search of the home of the then-minor Juso politician, who has been accused of defacing walls and surfaces at a campaign event for former Union candidate Friedrich Merz in Menden, Sauerland. The graffiti contained messages such as “Go away, Fascho-Fritz” “Hau ab Merz” “All of Menden hates the CDU” and an expression of support for the Antifa movement.
The unlawful search warrant was initially approved by a judge at the Arnsberg district court. Notably, Charlotte Merz, the wife of the current Chancellor, serves as the director of that court; however, she has stated that she was unaware of the matter. The decision to overturn the search warrant came in August from the Arnsberg Regional Court.