German vigilante group vows to protect women from migrant attackers

[philosslayer]

Thousands have pledged their support to a German vigilante group which has vowed to protect women from migrants in the wake of the New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne.

A week after a mob of 'drunk and stoned' migrants sexually assaulted and robbed 100 women on the streets of Cologne, a group known as 'Dusseldorf is Watching' has gained more than 8,000 Facebook members.

The group says it wants to make the streets safer through 'presence' alone but police have warned that 'searching for offenders is not a job for citizens'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3390042/The-fightback-begins-German-vigilante-group-vows-protect-women-migrant-attackers-three-Syrians-arrested-gang-raping-two-teenage-girls.html


Bad, BAD development. The powers that be in Germany need to shut this down immediately. Vigilante justice will end up hurting one group more than any other -- migrants; 99.99% of whom have nothing to do with what has transpired.

[mwrguy]

1. vigilantism will not be tolerated

These goons are the the German equivalent of america's Vanilla ISIS.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. But will sexual assault be tolerated?

Because you didn't seem very upset about that last week.

[mwrguy]

3. Of course not. The proper authorities will take care of that with a real investigation & due process

Not hooligans beating & killing random brown people in the street because they look like a rapist.

PEGIDA vigilantes are fascist thugs.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

5. I'm glad you've finally weighed in with the smallest of concerns for sexual assault

I was getting the impression you thought it was all made up and overblown.

[clarice]

33. wooooooo hooooo ! nt

[Matariki]

9. Or they could be the equivalent of Seattle's Q-Patrol

or the Guardian Angels. Helping prevent assault by being present and escorting people to their cars / bus stops.

Not really enough info to know what they'll be

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/03/the-q-patrol-returns-amid-lgbtq-targeted-crimes-on-capitol-hill/

[Yo_Mama]

10. You're missing the nuance - it is probably going to be tolerated in defense.

First, among the Cologne mayor's tips was the suggestion to run toward Tuersteher (dlub security, i.e. bouncers). This group was partially organized by them. Duesseldorf is the place with the two thousand suspects with the Silvester MO, remember? So the authorities have officially conceded that they can't control the streets by themselves. The Tuersteher will now be Strassesteher und Strasselaufer.

Second, these people have exactly the same right to be on the streets as the gangs of robbers. As long as they are acting defensively, there is nothing the authorities legally can do. If they start beating up people without cause, they'll get arrested.

Third, the police probably will unofficially work with businesses, who are probably somewhat sponsoring this.

Fourth, a lot of these people WILL be of migrant background, and some of these community patrols are going to be organized in high-minority areas.

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. For once we agree on a point about this matter.

This is why the proper authorities must deal with the problem. If they don't, vigilantism will not only cause undeserved suffering for innocent migrants, it will contribute to an atmosphere in which Germany's right wing will rise. I don't particularly trust cops to be selective enough in their targeting of offenders...I can't imagine vigilante groups wouldn't end up attacking completely innocent people just because of what they look like.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. Huh, I thought nothing "transpired"

Strange.

[philosslayer]

8. If you have an accusation to make

Then back it up. I never said any such thing.

[Coventina]

12. *ahem*

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7509387

"If the victims are to be believed."

Your words!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

13. Actually your comments were even more revealing and odious

Started out as a snide indictment of "European men" and a few shots of "American rape culture", then a massive "Not all....." backpedal when you found out who the assailants might be.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1303823

[philosslayer]

15. When the reports initially came out

That something had happened, the mayor of Cologne was insistent that the migrant community was not involved. I was simply following the information the authorities provided at the time.

[LanternWaste]

17. I used to cower behind implication and rationalization too.

I used to cower behind implication and rationalization too.

[Lizzie Poppet]

18. More ready to believe an idiot politician than sexual assault victims.

Yep, we got that...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

23. Horse crap. You were blaming everybody but the perpatrators.

First, you tried to blame it on European men --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141303819#post2


Then you tried to claim it was the US exporting rape culture --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141303819#post11


You're perfectly well prepared to blame entire groups, so long as they're politically convenient; but you'll turn a blind eye to keep whatever narrative you seem determined to hold.

[Warren DeMontague]

38. You gotta admit, he's a snazzy dresser.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. When facts are denied and the police fail the people this is what happens.

This is why it is so very, very wrong to play games with such crimes as this.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

21. Exactly.

[get the red out]

28. Thank you!

And nothing helps right-wing bullshit spread as much as hiding "inconvenient facts" for fear of right-wing bullshit!

So everyone gets hurt, the victims, and in the end, innocent minority people.

[leftynyc]

11. Or they could be just like NY's Guardian Angels

who stepped in to escort people when crime was completely out of control in NY. They aren't vigilantes but you trying to deflect from the rapes and assaults themselves isn't surprising anyone. There are now over 500 complaints about what those animals did.

[Bucky]

14. agreed entirely, although the efficiency of the German PTBs ain't what it used to be

I think it's a confidence problem since Montgomery Burns bitchslapped the Germans out of the Springfield nuclear market, but they were definitely caught with their lederhosen down by this surge in immigrant violence. These thugs just gave the best Christmas gift the right wing racists in Europe could've asked for.

[davidn3600]

16. Maybe the German government should have thought about this before opening the flood gates to migrant

[pampango]

19. Looks like RW vigilantes did some 'protecting': Foreign Men Attacked in Cologne As Dueling Protests

Ramp Up in Response to New Year’s Assaults

This weekend, several different groups preaching very different messages converged on Cologne. There were anti-migrant protesters, angry about the government's decision to let in so many refugees after the assaults in the German city on New Year's Eve. Water cannons were used to disperse the crowd of nearly 2,000 people, some of which threw beer bottles or firecrackers at the police. According to the AFP, attendees chanted, "Merkel must go," and at least one banner said, "Rapefugees not welcome." One protester, a right-wing politician, told The Financial Times, "All Muslim immigration must stop . . . We cannot integrate Islamist fascists."

Other protesters gathered to greet the right-wing group with a message opposing xenophobia, another group — mostly women, per Reuters — carried signs that said things like, "No means no. Keep away from our bodies." There were more than 1,000 counter-protesters.

The attacks have also proved to be a catalyst for more violence. According to the New York Times, six Pakistani nationals were attacked by about 20 people in Cologne on Sunday. Two were sent to the hospital. In other separate incidents in Cologne, a Syrian man and a group of Africans were also attacked. The Guardian adds that "local newspaper Express reported that the attackers were members of gangs who arranged via Facebook to meet in downtown Cologne to start a 'manhunt' of foreigners."

"As abominable as the crimes in Cologne and other cities were, one thing remains clear," Maas said this weekend. "There is no justification for blanket agitation against foreigners." One Syrian man in Cologne told BuzzFeed, “I’m very worried we will be attacked ... I don’t have any problem with Germans – many have welcomed me here and helped me integrate into the country – but many have problems with me and others, because we are from a different country ... The criminals, they are giving us new problems. They are making it harder for us, making it worse. This makes me more sad."

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/germany-to-release-more-info-on-assaults.html

[philosslayer]

22. As I cautioned against

The right wing in Germany is milking this for all its worth, and innocent people will suffer.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

20. I blame those who tried to cover-up the assaults and continue to offer

pathetic excuses like Islamophobia.

[NaturalHigh]

24. I'll save my concern for the women who were assaulted.

[pampango]

25. I'll extend my concern to the women and innocent foreigners ("looked Muslim") who were assaulted.

[philosslayer]

26. I'll put you down in the....

"not concerned that perfectly innocent people are getting beat up by racist goons" column.

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. This will not turn out well, and will only hurt those seeking asylum. A bunch of horny men have.....

just screwed the entire migrant population, and that sucks.

[get the red out]

29. Well, not only them

Women being raped are getting hurt also.

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. I thought that was a given. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. UH OH

[ileus]

31. what with bicycle wheels and cans of beans?

[smirkymonkey]

34. So what's the problem? Do you have a problem with women being defended?

What can they expect when they behave that way toward innocent German women?

[philosslayer]

35. So you're a big fan of vigilante justice?

[smirkymonkey]

36. If the government and law enforcement are not doing their jobs, then yes.

In this case, it would seem that neither is doing their job. Someone has to step up to the plate.

[Odin2005]

37. Brownshirts out to "protect Aryan women", wonderful.

[christx30]

39. Migrants raping German women is the problem.

The government is unable or unwilling to protect them. If the police get on the ball, the vigilantes will fade back into the woodwork.

[pampango]

40. I blame liberals for RW racist vigilantes who attack random foreigners. The far-right would never

stoop so low as to attack random people who look like foreigners if liberals did not empower and refuse to arrest Muslim rapists.

Or so Donald and Marine have told me.