this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
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What about the old guy then? What did he do? I dont think calling a group of german cops "pigs" is illegal.
Yes it is illegal. Though it does not warrant the use of force.
While I personally am unsure about the handling of that situation, I think police is legally able to justify the use of force in this situation by saying "Oh, the situation was difficult and we had to act now to ensure that we are able to identify the person." The woman who tried to "help" the man by intervening is legally also in trouble; if the police had the capacity and the will to act.
Funfact: Generally, you can call them "cows" in German so "Bulle", because it is so well established that it no longer counts as an insult but only as colloquial language.
Did you watch the video? Even with the insult statute it's clearly disproportionate! Insult is not an immediate threat..
Yes, I watched the video. From a police standpoint the amount of force is relatively low. Again, the likely legal justification for the action is that protest made identification impossible which allows them to separate the person from the protest to id him. Him falling was not intended. Injuries caused by resisting are legally speaking no harm done by police. They did not hit him; they could be allowed to if he resisted.
Anyway, I am trying to explain the legal side, but I am no lawyer. Just interested in law. You can try r/polizei to get a more "official" answer. I don't think there's a community for German police on reddit yet.
Imho: I would have let the man be as long as he doesn't get closer. It looks like he's carrying a beer and the trouble is not worth it for "pig". Police usually has room for not engaging if it helps keep protests civil. I think, this didn't go well - especially because the officer tried it alone at first.
In this thread a guy justifying morally reprehensible actions by declaring them legally justifiable :/
Crazy. Who?
All of them. But that doesn't define who I am today.
Who hurt you? If I may return the question.
Good response. The "who hurt you" thing is such a low ball argumentative style.
You get downvoted for clarification of law. Instead of the law itself being downvoted.
That's what happens these days :) to be fair I think my opinion that this clip doesn't show context and could therefore be misleading and that I hate people uploading these short clips because of that, was enough for people to make up their mind and just down vote everything. That's fine. People have strong opinions and I totally get it why pro-Palestine people are mad at Germany and the police after seeing this video. Not getting emotional while Israel commits genocide and everyone watches or supports would be abnormal.
I very much agree!
IMO, as a humankind we need next step in our collective evolution, so we can accept thru as it is and deal constructively with it. Formal school system needs to include education about how to develop emotional inteligencie and recognize manipulation.