The perennial problem of German courts with free speech when someone “would have a gas cartridge and a hand grenade”.

Oh that perennial problem the German courts have with free speech. A court in the Bavarian town of Passau - that is about as conservative as you can go (I would not want to be buried there) - has sentenced a 25-year old to a fine of € 7,500 for making the following comment on Facebook which was made in response to a request for donations for asylum seekers:

BR/Facebook

"I hät nu a gasflasche und a Handgranate rum liegen für des gfrast. Lieferung ist frei Haus"

This is dialect with an Austrian tinge and it means:

"I would have a gas cartridge and a hand grenade lying around here for that Gfrast. Free home delivery."

'Gfrast' is Austrian slang and can mean a couple of things like a good-for-nothing (Nichtsnutz), it can mean annoying child, it can also mean mischievous person.

So far, so good. What can be established without doubt is that this 25-year old hates foreigners seeking asylum. This is despicable. He is probably also a racist. However, is this an agitation against foreigners as the court ruled?

The 25-year old states he would have a gas cartridge. So this is firstly Conditional I and secondly, has the court established that he had a gas cartridge at the time of writing? Sure, many people cook with gas, but many do so with electricity. Even assuming he had one, what did he say? He said, I would have a gas cartridge and I offer exceptional customer service in bringing it to your home. That's all. He did not say I bring it and I get you fuckers all gassed.

While there is a chance that he indeed has a gas cartridge at home, the likelihood that he has a hand grenade at home is extremely questionable. Even if so, the same goes for this as for the gas cartridge, he would deliver it at no cost. Nowhere is he saying, I will blow you suckers up.

What his rant on Facebook boils down to is that he absolutely detests those asylum seekers (and most probably all foreigners except Westerners) and that he makes an empty threat. It is not even a threat as he does not threaten anybody. Although the sentence is revolting, it is his opinion and falls clearly under free speech. Free speech is not something where everybody chimes in 'Oh yeah, I really like what you were saying.'

To put it plain and simple, had this hot-blooded young chap said 'I have gas here with me and a hand grenade and I am coming over to your place and you guys will be history in an hour.', that would be a threat. That would not be protected under free speech.

What he said is along such daily occurring empty posturings like  'If that had happened to me, I would have really told him something.' 90% would not say a peep. They don't have the guts.

Yet there is more to this story and, hey, in Berlin the courts are also not day-dreaming when it comes to go against free speech. Here some 34-old posted on Facebook the following:

"Ich bin dafür, dass wir die Gaskammern wieder öffnen und die ganze Brut da reinstecken."

Translated:

"I am in favour that we reopen the gas chambers again and tuck the whole brood in there."

Again, my dear court in Berlin, he said "I am in favour ...", but there are no gas chambers and none will (at least I hope so) be reopened. Were there indeed operating gas chambers in Germany, he did not say 'I will shove them inside'.

There are many forms of threats in day-to-day life and these ones are certainly absolutely borderline and so this verdict by the US Supreme Court offers plenty of room for discussion. Popehat had this to say.

Back to Germany and those two cases (there are way more questionable verdicts where free speech is being curtailed). The verdicts smack a good deal of sickening hypocrisy because, with all due respect you Knights in the shining armour of Justice, racial profiling, for example, is legal in Germany and German courts are also well-known for their institutional racism. Conspicuously, German authorities also mysteriously fail to find the arsonists who put refugee houses on fire. Just saying.

When in doubt, decide always pro free speech because it is too precious to lose it.