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Berlin Court Frees El Hotzo in Trump Assassination Joke Case

The judge said his online quips did not breach public peace under German law.

Overview

  • El Hotzo was acquitted by the Amtsgericht Tiergarten on charges of condoning violence in satirical posts about the July 2024 attack on Trump.
  • Judge Andrea Wilms ruled that his X posts constituted noncriminal satire and lacked the capacity to disturb public peace.
  • Prosecutor Marc-Alexander Liebig had sought a €6,000 fine, arguing that satirists are not above hate-crime laws when their comments reach broad audiences.
  • The prosecution retains the right to appeal the verdict, prolonging legal debate over satire’s limits in Germany.
  • Earlier fallout saw RBB end its collaboration with Hotz and the German Journalists’ Association criticize the trial as an overreach against satirical freedom.