A German court sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday (13) a man accused of killing a gas station employee who insisted that he wear a protective mask against the coronavirus and comply with the sanitary measures in force at the time.
The crime took place in September 2021 in the city of Idar-Oberstein, in eastern Germany – at a time when the country was fearfully watching the increase in violence caused by denialists who criticized measures to restrict the circulation of the virus.
At the time, the victim, a 20-year-old man who worked as a cashier at the gas station, asked the customer – identified by the local press only as Mario N., due to the country’s privacy laws – to collaborate with the sanitary measures and use the protection facial.
Refusing to don the mask, Mario N. argued with the clerk and left. Hours later he returned to the scene, this time with the item on his face and carrying a gun he had brought with him from home. He walked over to the cashier, lowered his mask and, after arguing again, shot the clerk in the head.
The victim died at the scene and the killer turned himself in to the police moments later, claiming he acted out of anger, due to the stress caused by the sanitary measures. Although I confess, the defendant asked that he be tried for murder with limited guilt. An expert attested that Mario N. had alcohol in his bloodstream at the time of the crime.
The Bad Kreuznach regional court granted the prosecutor’s request and classified the case as intentional homicide, sentencing the attacker to life in prison. The victim’s mother, who followed the six-month trial, said the verdict didn’t matter as it wouldn’t change what happened to her son. “It won’t bring him back,” she said.
Just concluded, the trial revived debates raised at the time of the crime, about the radicalization of denialist and extreme right-wing movements in the country.
Resistance to the rules to curb the spread of coronavirus in Germany began to take shape in August 2020, when thousands of people took to the streets and protested in front of the Reichstag, the parliament building.
The demonstration also drew attention for having the presence of a flag associated with Nazism.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
