German Police Raid 170 Homes Over 'Hate Speech', Insults To Politicians

German police launched a massive operation on Wednesday, raiding the homes of 170 individuals suspected of spreading hate speech or insulting politicians online. The operation, conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office, targeted individuals accused of racism and hate speech under the new Criminal Code Paragraph 188. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister, Herbert Reul, celebrated the raids, stating that "digital arsonists" must not be able to hide behind their devices. The operation is part of a growing trend in Germany, where police resources are being shifted towards targeting hate speech violations, including those complaining about rising crime in relation to mass immigration. Despite the increase in such raids, violent crime has reached record highs in Germany, largely due to mass immigration. Germany now regularly conducts "days of action" against citizens who commit "violations" against new and more draconian speech laws. In some cases, national scandals have erupted when the details of the cases became public, such as the case of a pensioner who had his house raided for calling a former minister an "idiot." The latest raids allegedly involve mostly right-wing extremist statements, but some cases involve extremist religious or left-wing extremist content. The federal interior ministry has argued that there needs to be a clear distinction between opinion and hate speech, but critics argue that the raids constitute a violation of freedom of speech.