German prosecutors probe online extremist accused of inciting school murder via chat

International crimes and incitement

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office has assumed jurisdiction over an investigation into a young man accused of directing minors internationally to carry out violent attacks via online chat groups. Investigators state that the suspect acted as a ringleader in both a terrorist organization and a criminal organization. Among the primary offenses cited by federal authorities, the suspect allegedly persuaded a minor boy in Russia through chat communications to fatally stab a child at a school. He is also accused of inciting juveniles in the United States and Sweden to set motor vehicles on fire.

In addition to arson and school violence, prosecutors allege that the suspect called for the murder of an unnamed United States citizen in a chat group. In another case involving a victim in a European country outside Germany, the suspect made contact with a child online and coerced the victim into performing sexual acts with a knife, which resulted in severe bodily injuries. The suspect then compiled and circulated video footage of the violent acts across digital networks.

Extreme violence and online recruitment

Federal prosecutors allege that the suspect established an organization driven by right-wing extremist ideology by late March 2024 at the latest. The organization operated with the stated objective of causing a complete breakdown of the societal order through the execution and instigation of severe offenses, including murder and manslaughter. Recorded media of the attacks was systematically shared among chat group members to recruit new followers and promote future assaults.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office detailed the media strategy of the organization in its official statement:

Image and video material of such acts is deliberately shared in chat groups to advertise the organization and future attacks.

The comprehensive list of charges against the suspect includes incitement to murder, multiple counts of arson, rape, and the sexual abuse of a child. Authorities also brought charges for the gang-related distribution of child pornography, public incitement to commit criminal acts, the formal approval of crimes, and the illegal dissemination of depictions of violence.

Links to the COM scene and parallel networks

Federal investigators linked the two groups in the case to the online COM scene, a subculture that developed on internet platforms several years ago. Members of this digital network deliberately seek out vulnerable users across social media and gaming services to manipulate them into committing dangerous acts.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office explained the methods used by actors within the network:

Its members specifically search on social media or gaming platforms for very young, mostly female individuals who are to be pushed through manipulation and coercion into degrading acts and/or self-harm up to suicide.

Authorities noted parallels between this investigation and an ongoing trial before the Hamburg Regional Court involving a defendant known under the online pseudonym White Tiger. In the Hamburg case, the accused faces charges for more than 200 internet offenses as the alleged leader of the international sadist network 764, which systematically targeted psychologically vulnerable adolescents in online forums.

Legal proceedings in Karlsruhe

The suspect was arrested on 17 March in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and remains held in pre-trial detention. The criminal proceedings were initially opened and conducted by the Koblenz General Public Prosecutor's Office before being transferred to federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe. The accused is scheduled to be brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice. Broadcaster Südwestrundfunk first reported on the federal takeover of the investigation.