Police illegally trained with war ammunition in Güstrow: Shocked citizens!

Police illegally trained with war ammunition in Güstrow: Shocked citizens!

In picturesque Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, more precisely in Güstrow, a truly explosive story is now being highlighted. Since 2008, special police units have been illegally training with war ammunition at the private “Großer Bockhorst” shooting range. According to research by NDR, ammunition was used between 2015 and 2019 that falls under the War Weapons Control Act and therefore should not have been fired. These illegal trainings were uncovered in the course of investigations into the right-wing extremist prepper group “Nordkreuz”, which has been criticized for some time and is linked to various incidents in the region.

The operator of the shooting range, Frank T., seems to be deeply involved in these machinations; He was temporarily a member of a “Nordkreuz” chat group. This sheds a worrying light on the relationship between the police and right-wing extremist structures. The investigations by the Rostock public prosecutor's office, which were initiated in 2021 into possible violations of the War Weapons Control Act, were discontinued, but the suspicion remains that the police officers did not pay sufficient attention to compliance with the regulations. Constanze Oehlrich from the Green Party commented that the illegal training shows the problematic cooperation between the state police and the shooting range operator, which could probably also be dealt with in the state parliament's investigative committee on right-wing extremism.

The complications surrounding Frank T.

Frank T.'s involvement not only includes illegal training, but also serious legal consequences. The Schwerin public prosecutor's office has brought charges against him and an employee of the weapons authority because there were violations of the War Weapons Control Act. The background to this indictment is an investigation against Marko G., a former SEK police officer and head of the right-wing extremist group Nordkreuz, from whom tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized in 2017. In November 2017, an employee of the weapons authority is said to have handed over 10 cartridges to Frank T. at Marko G.'s request, which increased the investigators' suspicions about the integrity of the weapons authority.

A particularly shocking incident occurred in the fall of 2018 when Frank T. offered a police officer to use official ammunition for private target practice. The subsequent investigation revealed that this officer stole cartridges worth at least 3,680 euros. T. was able to trade profitably with these machinations or use them for his own purposes. These incidents provide an insight into the infiltration of state institutions by right-wing extremist actors and the failure of the authorities, because while eight other cases against T. were dropped, it remained unclear how deep the suspicions ran.

The overall social dimension

However, what is happening here is not just a local problem. Germany has experienced a worrying increase in right-wing extremist crimes in recent years. In 2020, over 23,000 such acts were registered, including over 1,000 violent crimes. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates the number of violent right-wing extremists at around 13,000, which underlines the worrying dimension of this development. These incidents, which are illustrated by the tragic events in Hanau or the attempted attack in Halle, clearly show that it is necessary to deal with the structures of right-wing extremism and take appropriate measures.

In summary, it can be said that the incidents surrounding the shooting range in Güstrow and Frank T.'s involvement not only raise questions about the legality and integrity of police training, but also shed an alarming light on the relationships between state institutions and right-wing extremist networks. Society is called upon to take a clear stand and support measures that stop such dangerous developments.