A 27-year-old assassin, driven by hatred of Jews, murders and films his terror campaign in the East German city of Halle with a helmet camera. Some of the media reports show how the needle of the ethical compass has once again failed. And once again it has become clear that reporting on "new" right-wing extremism urgently needs to become more professional.
The perpetrator chose a holiday, the Jewish Day of Atonement Yom Kippur, as the day of the crime. He wanted to kill as many Jews as possible. He had acquired an arsenal of explosive devices, rifles mexico rcs data and pistols, some of which he had made himself, and mounted a camera on his helmet to show "his circles" and the whole world what he was capable of. That is why he spoke English and referred to well-known racist mass murderers in Norway and New Zealand. He is evidently one of those "new" right-wing extremists who are familiar with the internet and games; it is fitting that he posted his video on Twitch, a streaming platform for computer games. He evidently sees no other perspective for his life than that of a mass murderer.
Were the police too slow? Are livestream rules too lax? Do synagogues need to be systematically and better protected on Jewish holidays? Important considerations. But the central challenges revealed by the murders in Halle go much further and are often concealed. Four starting points.