Maaßen and the video from Chemnitz: assertion without proof

The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution raises a serious charge: In an "image" interview Hans-Georg Maaßen doubts not only media reports on right-wing extremist hunts in Chemnitz. The head of the German domestic intelligence service also says: "There is no evidence that the video circulating on the internet about this alleged incident is authentic." And finally, Maaßen goes further: "According to my cautious assessment, there are good reasons why it is targeted misinformation in order to possibly distract the public from the murder in Chemnitz."

This sentence is remarkable in many ways:

• The doctorate lawyer and constitutional protection Maassen speaks of "murder in Chemnitz", although the Attorney General Dresden so far because of joint manslaughter against the three suspects identified.

• The head of the domestic intelligence service assumes that the video showing an attack on a migrant in Chemnitz is not authentic. What exactly he means by that leaves Maaßen open. It could mean that the video was either taken on another day or staged by actors.

The secret service chief has not yet mentioned a documentary evidence for his statement - he has not even reported to the federal government on his advice so far, as confirmed by Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert.

It's about a video that was released on Sunday, August 26th at 8:56 pm from the Twitter account "Antifa Zeckenbiss". The 19-second film shows a scene taken on the Bahnhofstrasse in Chemnitz near Johannisplatz. It can be seen how several men attack two migrants and call them "Kanacken". A man tries to kick one of the two migrants. The attacked flee across the street to a bus.

# c2608 #Saxony
Menschenhagd in #Chemnitz Nazi-Hools are capable of anything today. # FckNZS pic.twitter.com/dP9EK4T84p

The scene is a bit off the beaten track, where hundreds of protesters marched through town on Sunday afternoon in response to the violent death of Chemnitz's Daniel H. Already hours before the video was published, eyewitnesses reported via Twitter of attacks on migrants around the Johannisplatz.

At Johannisplatz migrant hunt. So far, apparently no seriously injured # c2608

Among others, the "Tagesschau", "Frontal 21" and SPIEGEL TV have shown the video in reports of the incidents in Chemnitz. Indirectly Maaßen accuses the media now, they were sitting lightly targeted misinformation.

The Twitter account "Antifa Zeckenbiss" has been around since February 2018. Since then, the channel has been distributing information about right-wing extremists, racists and the AfD. Who is behind it, is unclear. It is also unclear how "Antifa Zeckenbiss" came into possession of the video - whether the person in charge of the account made the recording itself, whether it was leaked to them, or whether it may come from a closed Facebook group. To several SPIEGEL requests "Antifa Zeckenbiss" has not responded.

In security circles, one wonders who is really behind the group. Apparently, there are indications that the creators of the video could not belong to the Antifa, but have created and distributed the images for other reasons.

However, there is a second video that was shot on the opposite side of Bahnhofstrasse. In the 33 second long clip, several people can be seen, which can also be seen in the video of "Antifa Zeckenbiss". The video was released on August 26th at 8:18 pm from the left Chemnitz Twitter account "Isaak Schlager". Also, this account and the video would have to be part of the Maassen presumed staging.

Faschos hunt foreigners in Chemnitz. # c2608 After a stabbing in Chemnitz, without known backgrounds to action, spontaneously 100th Nazis marched, including III.Weg, Dresdner Faschos, Chemnitz Ultras, Boxclub94 "The Wolves". Kaotic Chemnitz called with the AFD on. pic.twitter.com/zF1T402ujm

And then there's the lawsuit from Alihassan Sarfaraz. He claims to be on the online portal "ze.tt", one of the two persecuted men who are seen in the video. The Attorney General Dresden has confirmed that the Afghan has filed a complaint for personal injury and property damage. Whether Sarfaraz is actually the man from the video, but not yet clarified.

Investigators in Saxony, it says, but currently have no evidence for Maassens claim that the video is not authentic.