AfD politician in hot water after stunt covering up Karl Marx statue

Berlin (dpa) – A prominent far-right politician in Germany is under investigation after posting a video of herself covering up a bust of Karl Marx with a plastic bag, in a stunt both decrying and adopting the tactics of recent anti-racism protests.

A police spokesman confirmed to dpa on Wednesday that Beatrix von Storch, a member of parliament for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), was suspected of violating the law on public gatherings.

In the video posted to social media, von Storch could be seen climbing a ladder to cover a bust of Karl Marx in Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district with a plastic bag.

She was joined by members of the AfD’s allied Young Alternative (JA) youth organization for the stunt, which was intended as a response to a racism debate revived in Germany by the death of George Floyd in US police custody in May.

In the video, the AfD politician denounced campaigns to have statues portraying controversial historical figures removed as “iconoclasm” and accused the left of ignoring Marx’s own flaws, describing him as a “racist and anti-Semite.”

The protest was not authorized, the police spokesman told dpa, adding that a probe is being carried out by a special police division tasked with investigating political crimes.

In Germany, public protests have to be registered with local authorities prior to the event.

Von Storch, who is vice-president of the AfD party at the federal level, reacted with derision to the news she was being investigated by police.

“The fact that criticism of Karl Marx is perceived as a possible ‘threat to the state’ shows the growing influence of … radical left groups on politics and authorities,” she said.

AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla meanwhile described von Storch’s stunt as “awkward.”