German Interior Ministry rejects blaming gamer scene for Halle attack
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E-mail Xinhua, October 15, 2019
BERLIN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The German Interior Ministry on Monday rejected accusations that it was putting the entire gaming industry under general suspicion following the recent synagogue shooting in the German city of Halle.
"It is about fighting the most serious crimes and finding these potential perpetrators, extremists or other types of perpetrators, in all areas in which they are active," a ministry spokesperson said, adding that Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's statement was in no way intended to discredit the entire gaming industry or gaming scene.
Last Wednesday, right-wing extremist Stephan B. killed two people in Halle after unsuccessfully attempting to enter a synagogue during the Yom Kippur prayers in order "to kill as many people of the Jewish religion as possible," according to Germany's federal prosecutor.
Stephan B. was involved in the video game scene and had live-streamed the shooting via the streaming platform Twitch.
"Many of the perpetrators or potential perpetrators come from the gamer scene," said Seehofer in an interview with public broadcaster ARD on Sunday.
One has to "look closely" whether a computer game is used for the "covert planning" of an attack, Seehofer stated in the interview, adding that the German government must therefore "take a closer look at the gamer scene."
On Monday, Lars Klingbeil, general secretary of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), criticized Seehofer for his statements, saying that "the problem is right-wing extremism, not gamers or anything else."
The parliamentary group of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) stated on Twitter that "right-wing extremism is a problem that must be tackled," adding that putting gamers under general suspicion would be "the wrong way to go."
"Putting the gaming community under general suspicion is above all a sign of ignorance and helplessness and distracts from the real social and political causes for such actions," noted Felix Falk, managing director of the German games industry association (game), on Sunday. Enditem
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