Authorities in one German state have discovered 29 participants in ultra-right chat groups who are also police officers. All have been dismissed from service and disciplinary proceedings have begun against them.
Herbert Reul, Interior Minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, informed the public of the developments. Five such groups using the WhatsApp communications application have been discovered there so far.
Of the police officers found to be involved, 25 were supervised by the Police Presidium in Essen. The vast majority had previously served in the town of Mülheiman der Ruhr.
The authorities performed raids against 14 police officers in 34 stations and in their private residences in Duisburg, Essen, Moers, Mülheim and Oberhausen, according to the Deutsche-PresseAgentur (DPA) wire service. Speaking yesterday, Reul said the discovery "discredits the police".
