Stuttgart riot: audio message from a police officer during the riot

A police officer describes the riots in Stuttgart in a voice message. The man seems stunned and also makes racist statements. Now there is a threat of a conversation with the chief of police.

Editor's note, June 25, 2020: When the article appeared on June 22, 2020, it was still unclear whether the author of the recording was actually a police officer. In the meantime, the Stuttgart police have identified the officer. t-online.de has therefore updated the article.

It seems like the message from an experienced police officer who is clearly shaken by an operation: the audio message from a Stuttgart police officer from the night of the riots is circulating on social media. There is "war" and anyone who wears a uniform is "only a victim". It was a miracle "that nobody was shot". The man seems dismayed: "That really stuns me." The police leadership is "helpless". In the course of the recording he also made racist comments.

This is how rioters destroyed downtown Stuttgart

Photo series with 10 pictures

The Stuttgart police identified the officer based on his voice a few days after publication. The man admitted to having made the recording and sent it to a small private distribution group via WhatsApp, said Stefan Keilbach, spokesman for the Stuttgart police headquarters, t-online.de.

The message was probably forwarded from there without his knowledge. It is currently being examined whether there are criminal or service law consequences, said Keilbach. That is probably not the case, since criminal behavior is unlikely to exist and the statements were made privately. But: The man's statements do not correspond to the language used by the Stuttgart police, they maintain a different model. "The officer will have to prepare for a conversation with the chief of police."

Police are aware of the recording

A few days earlier, the Stuttgart police only confirmed to t-online.de that they were aware of the recording. The authority is looking into this, but has not yet verified it. t-online.de nevertheless reported on the audio, as it reached many people on social media. The recording first spread through QAnon and other right-wing chat groups. t-online.de had therefore shown what speaks for and against the authenticity of the recording.

The recording sounds as if it could be intended for friends, acquaintances or family. The audio document said he had to get rid of it now. The recording ends with: "See you tomorrow or see you later". The author has a clear Swabian dialect and uses some of the vocabulary commonly used by the police. Police radio seemed to be faintly heard in the background of the recording.

But that didn't necessarily mean that a police officer actually took the picture. It was also conceivable that such background noise should give the recording authenticity. Police circles said radio traffic was relatively quiet for such a turbulent situation. In the recording, however, the man claims that the radio is overturning.

Contradictions and doubts

The descriptions of the course of the riot correspond in part to the incident, as also described by the Stuttgart police. "Now it's 1:55 a.m.: Parts of the city center - Königstrasse, Rotebühlplatz - have been blown out. Colleagues have been thrown at with stones and bottles." Patrol cars were damaged. "Everything is there" from the surrounding police headquarters.

The recording that has been making waves since Sunday: it sounds as if a police officer were reporting from the action during the night riots in Stuttgart. The police cannot yet say whether it came from an officer. (Source: Screenshot)

Other descriptions, however, did not match the actual course of events and raised doubts as to whether the man was on duty as a police officer on the night of the riot.

First: The author of the voiceover says the first police station was "tackled". Police Precinct 1 is in the part of town where the rioters roamed. However, the Stuttgart police cannot confirm an attack on any area. So it probably didn't happen.

Second: The man reports twice that at 1:56 the "state reserve was activated". However, the term "state reserve" is very unusual for the police in Baden-Württemberg. It is more of a term from the Bundeswehr. In the case of the police, there would be more talk of "reinforcement" or, in the case of a hundred, of "riot police" (BePo). And even if the term was only used casually, the information provided by the audio author is incorrect.

The alleged "state reserve" comes "from Lake Constance or something, I have no idea," says the man. That's wrong. The police headquarters have deployed a tactical platoon on Lake Constance - which comes closest to an alleged "state reserve" because it supports the regional headquarters with riot police, among other things. According to information from the Presidium, this was not in use on the night in question. Rather, officials were ordered from the Göppingen location to Stuttgart.

Used racist swear word

t-online.de therefore stated that the misinformation could be due to the confusing situation on the night of the operation. However, it is also possible that the author of the voice message was not on duty as a police officer.

According to research, the recording has been widely distributed since early Sunday afternoon. The first recordings show a dispatch via a messenger service at 1:23 p.m. for storage. However, this information does not have to be correct. It was uploaded to YouTube at 4:26 p.m. at the latest. Since then there have been various versions, some slightly shortened, underlaid with video recordings of the night or with radio traffic made unrecognizable.

A brief remark in the recording led to the recording being shared in both right-wing and left-wing groups: The policeman uses a racist swear word, saying that the perpetrators are only foreigners. In fact, twelve of the 24 people arrested initially had German citizenship, as the Vice President of the Stuttgart police, Thomas Berger, said. Three of them have a migration background. Half of all those arrested were young people up to the age of 21.

In right-wing circles, the statement about foreigners was a confirmation of prejudice. In left-wing circles, outrage was triggered that a suspected police officer used the choice of words to express himself.