Overview

• The officer was part of the 'Itiotentreff' chat group, which exchanged over 1,600 messages containing racist, xenophobic, and antisemitic content between 2014 and 2018.
• The court found that only 13 of the 150 files shared by the officer demonstrated extremist intent or sympathy with National Socialism, while the rest fell under free-expression protections.
• The officer had been suspended since May 2022, but the court ruled his removal from the civil service was not sufficiently likely to justify continued suspension.
• This decision is not yet legally binding, and separate proceedings on his potential removal from the civil service are still pending.
• The case highlights ongoing challenges in balancing free speech protections with accountability for extremist conduct within law enforcement.