Berlin Court of Appeal Upholds Acquittal of Satirist El Hotzo Over Trump Posts

The Berlin Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal of German satirist Sebastian Hotz, known by his stage name El Hotzo, on Friday, dismissing a prosecution appeal over two posts he published on X in July 2024 commenting on the assassination attempt on United States President Donald Trump. The court confirmed the original finding of the Tiergarten district court that the posts constituted non-punishable satire and did not amount to approval of a criminal offense or a disturbance of the public peace. The hearing at the Kammergericht lasted approximately 80 minutes. The ruling is now legally binding, meaning the case will not be retried.

Two posts, 49 complaints, and a "last bus" joke The case originated on the night of July 14, 2024, when Hotz published two posts on X in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where a bullet struck Trump in the ear. In the first post, Hotz asked his followers what the last bus and Donald Trump had in common, answering the question himself with the phrase "unfortunately narrowly missed." Fifteen minutes later, he wrote, in what his defense described as an allusion to Trump's own rhetorical style, that he found it "absolutely fantastic when fascists die." Hotz deleted both posts shortly afterward. The publications triggered nearly 50 criminal complaints filed with the public prosecutor's office, and Hotz faced charges of approving a criminal offense. The Tiergarten district court acquitted him at the end of July 2025, classifying the posts as a joke and non-punishable satire, even if potentially tasteless.

El Hotzo case — key dates: — ; — ; —

Prosecutor argued satire cannot always escape punishment Senior public prosecutor Frank Mohr pressed the appeal before the Kammergericht, arguing that the Tiergarten district court had wrongly denied that the posts constituted approval of a criminal offense. Mohr acknowledged that the comparison of the last bus and Trump could pass as a joke, but maintained that the second post carried "a certain amount of incitement" and was not simply humorous. He contended that in an "overheated social climate," even satire cannot always go unpunished, and that the statements were suitable to disturb the public peace. Mohr requested that the acquittal be overturned and the case referred back to a different division of the district court. The prosecution had previously sought a for the offense. Defense lawyer Carolin Lütcke countered that the posts were obviously recognizable to everyone as a joke and that the second post was an allusion to Trump's own rhetoric. In his closing statement, Hotz said he was astonished that anyone had taken his posts seriously, and quoted the German satirist Kurt Tucholsky, who wrote that satire may do anything.

„That is a world in which I do not want to live.” — Sebastian Hotz via watson.ch

Press freedom advocates back the ruling, Hotz jokes about his book The German Journalists' Association welcomed the outcome and had criticized the prosecution's decision to appeal the original acquittal. DJV spokesman Hendrik Zörner said it was incomprehensible that the public prosecutor's office had refused to accept the Tiergarten district court's ruling, and raised the question of what freedom of satire was worth in Germany. Hotz himself, who describes himself as an "internet clown" and has nearly , responded to the legally binding acquittal in characteristically sardonic fashion. He said a conviction would have been better advertising for his forthcoming book than an acquittal. The day before the hearing, he had posted on X a drawing illustrating the function of a captive bolt gun on a bovine, captioned "Tomorrow Trump tweet revision." The ruling closes a legal process that began with posts deleted within minutes of publication and stretched across nearly two years of proceedings.

The assassination attempt on Donald Trump took place in mid-July 2024 in Pennsylvania during a campaign rally, when a bullet struck Trump in the ear. The attack prompted widespread international commentary, including from satirists and public figures. German law criminalizes the approval of criminal offenses under Paragraph 140 of the Criminal Code, which has been applied in cases involving public statements deemed to endorse violence. The Kammergericht, founded in the mid-15th century under Brandenburg Elector Friedrich II, is the oldest court in Germany still in operation and serves as Berlin's highest court of ordinary jurisdiction.