The following statement was made in court to the judge, prosecutor and the gallery during the author’s trial, at which he was acquitted last month. However, the prosecutor has appealed to overturn the acquittal, meaning the author is facing a second trial in an appeals court.
My name is C.J. Hopkins. I am an American playwright, author and political satirist. My plays have been produced and received critical acclaim internationally. My political satire and commentary is read by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. 20 years ago, I left my own country because of the fascistic atmosphere that had taken hold of the USA at that time, the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a war of aggression based on my Government’s lies. I emigrated to Germany and made a new life here in Berlin, because I believed that Germany, given its history, would be the last place on Earth to ever have anything to do with any form of totalitarianism again.
The gods have a strange sense of humor. This past week, thousands of people have been out in the streets all over Germany protesting against fascism, chanting “never again is now”. Many of these people spent the past three years, 2020 to 2023, unquestioningly obeying orders, parroting official propaganda and demonising anyone who dared to question the Government’s unconstitutional and authoritarian actions during the so-called Covid pandemic. Many of these same people, those who support Palestinian rights, are now shocked that the new form of totalitarianism they helped usher into existence is being turned against them.
And here I am, in criminal court in Berlin, accused of disseminating pro-Nazi propaganda in two Tweets about mask mandates. The German authorities have had my speech censored on the internet, and have damaged my reputation and income as an author. One of my books has been banned by Amazon in Germany. All this because I criticised the German authorities, because I mocked one of their decrees, because I pointed out one of their lies.
This turn of events would be absurdly comical if it were not so infuriating. I cannot adequately express how insulting it is to be forced to sit here and affirm my opposition to fascism. For over 30 years, I have written and spoken out against fascism, authoritarianism, totalitarianism etc. Anyone can do an internet search, find my books, read the reviews of my plays, read my essays, and discover who I am and what my political views are in two or three minutes. And yet I am accused by the German authorities of disseminating pro-Nazi propaganda. I am accused of doing this because I posted two tweets challenging the official Covid narrative and comparing the new, nascent form of totalitarianism that it has brought into being — i.e., the so-called ‘New Normal’ — to Nazi Germany.
Let me be very clear. In those two tweets, and in my essays throughout 2020 to 2022, and in my current essays, I have indeed compared the rise of this new form of totalitarianism to the rise of the best-known 20th-Century form of totalitarianism, i.e., Nazi Germany. I have made this comparison, and analysed the similarities and differences between these two forms of totalitarianism, over and over again. And I will continue to do so. I will continue to analyse and attempt to explain this new, emerging form of totalitarianism, and to oppose it, and warn my readers about it.
The two tweets at issue here feature a swastika covered by one of the medical masks that everyone was forced to wear in public during 2020 to 2022. That is the cover art of my book. The message conveyed by this artwork is clear. In Nazi Germany, the swastika was the symbol of conformity to the official ideology. During 2020 to 2022, the masks functioned as the symbol of conformity to a new official ideology. That was their purpose. Their purpose was to enforce people’s compliance with Government decrees and conformity to the official Covid-pandemic narrative, most of which has now been proven to have been propaganda and lies.
Mask mandates do not work against airborne viruses. This had been understood and acknowledged by medical experts for decades prior to the spring of 2020. It has now been proven to everyone and acknowledged by medical experts again. The science of mask mandates did not suddenly change in March of 2020. The official narrative changed. The official ideology changed. The official ‘reality’ changed. Karl Lauterbach was absolutely correct when he said, “The masks always send out a signal.” They signal they sent out from 2020 to 2022 was, “I conform. I do not ask questions. I obey orders.”
That is not how democratic societies function. That is how totalitarian systems function.
Not every form of totalitarianism is the same, but they share common hallmarks. Forcing people to display symbols of conformity to official ideology is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Declaring a ‘state of emergency’ and revoking constitutional rights for no justifiable reason is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Banning protests against Government decrees is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Inundating the public with lies and propaganda designed to terrify people into mindless obedience is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Segregating societies is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Censoring dissent is a hallmark of totalitarianism. Stripping people of their jobs because they refuse to conform to official ideology is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Fomenting mass hatred of a ‘scapegoat’ class of people is a hallmark of totalitarianism. Demonising critics of the official ideology is a hallmark of totalitarian systems. Instrumentalising the law to punish dissidents and make examples of critics of the authorities is a hallmark of totalitarianism.
I have documented the emergence of all these hallmarks of totalitarianism in societies throughout the West — including but not limited to Germany — since March of 2020. I will continue to do so. I will continue to warn readers about this new, emerging form of totalitarianism and attempt to understand it, and oppose it. I will compare this new form of totalitarianism to earlier forms of totalitarianism, and specifically to Nazi Germany, whenever it is appropriate and contributes to our understanding of current events. That is my job as a political satirist and commentator, and as an author, and my responsibility as a human being.
The German authorities can punish me for doing that. You have the power to do that. You can make an example of me. You can fine me. You can imprison me. You can ban my books. You can censor my content on the internet, which you have done. You can defame me, and damage my income and reputation as an author, as you have done. You can demonise me as a “conspiracy theorist”, as an “anti-vaxxer”, a “Covid denier”, an “idiot” and an “extremist”, which you have done. You can haul me into criminal court and make me sit here, in Germany, in front of my wife, who is Jewish, and deny that I am an antisemite who wants to relativise the Holocaust. You have the power to do all these things.
However, I hope that you will at least have the integrity to call this what it is, and not hide behind false accusations that I am somehow supporting the Nazis by comparing the rise of a new form of totalitarianism to the rise of an earlier totalitarian system, one that took hold of and ultimately destroyed this country in the 20th century, and murdered millions in the process, because too few Germans had the courage to stand up and oppose it when it first began. I hope that you will at least have the integrity to not pretend that you actually believe I am disseminating pro-Nazi propaganda, when you know very well that is not what I am doing.
No one with any integrity believes that is what I am doing. No one with any integrity believes that is what my tweets in 2022 were doing. Every journalist that has covered my case, everyone in this courtroom, understands what this prosecution is actually about. It has nothing to do with punishing people who actually disseminate pro-Nazi propaganda. It is about punishing dissent, and making an example of dissidents in order to intimidate others into silence.
That is not how democratic nations function. That is how totalitarian systems function.
What I hope even more is that this court will put an end to this prosecution, and apply the law fairly, and not allow it to be used as a pretext to punish people like me who criticise Government dictates, people who expose the lies of Government officials, people who refuse to deny facts, who refuse to perform absurd rituals of obedience on command, who refuse to unquestioningly follow orders.
Because the issue here is much larger and much more important than my little ‘tweet’ case.
We are, once again, at a crossroads. Not just here in Germany, but throughout the West. People went a little crazy, a little fascist, during the so-called Covid pandemic. And now, here we are. There are two roads ahead. We have to choose – you, me, all of us. One road leads back to the rule of law, to democratic principles. The other road leads to authoritarianism, to societies where authorities rule by decree, and force, and twist the law into anything they want, and dictate what is and isn’t reality, and abuse their power to silence anyone who disagrees with them.
That is the road to totalitarianism. We have been down that road before. Please, let’s not do it again.
C.J. Hopkins is an internationally acclaimed playwright, author and political satirist. He writes on Substack.
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Powerful, and accurate.
Appealing the verdict on a case like this only proves Hopkins to be correct in his assessment. A legitimate court has decided on the evidence, but officials want to punish some more by the process, even if the result is the same.
That is mafia ideology at work, as seems to be happening across the Western court system.
It’s a bit different in Germany and that’s probably very difficult for an American to understand: The swastika is a prohibited symbol of a former national-socialist organisation and because of this, displaying it in public is generally an offence. They may usually be legally used if someone unfamiliar with a specific display can clearly identify the antifascist intent or in clearly antifascist satire. But only usually, ie, this is still for the courts to sort out. A higher court may well come to the conclusion that Hopkins’ use of it was neither of them and hence, was an offence. What he himself meant by that doesn’t matter at all, just what others might see in it.
Is Jon Garvey American? Why is the point you explain difficult for an American to understand?
Hopkins is an American. And this means he probably expects to be able to use swastikas for artistical expression. However, any public display of a swastika is illegal in Germany and there are just some fairly narrow customary exceptions for that.
I dunno – he doesn’t seem like a dummy and he has been there a while- I would bet he knows the law pretty well
Lawyers working for the government don’t seem think so. Granted, these are (public prosecutors) taking orders from seriously pissed off politicians and spending other people’s money, however, they wouldn’t be going to court when they weren’t convinced that they can make a case.
The official document on this¹ states that
Die Verwendung von unter §§ 86, 86a StGB fallenden Kennzeichen wird
überwiegend dann als nicht strafbar angesehen, wenn der unbefangene
Betrachter in der Art der Darstellung eine Ablehnung der NS-Ideologie
erkennen kann.
Public display of symbols prohibited by §86, 86a STGB is overwhelmingly regarded as legal when someone not familiar with the specific image in question can clearly recognize that its meant to communicate a rejection of NS ideology.
and then cautions that people who meant to express such a rejection have in the past been found guilty of infringement nevertheless. And there’s the second argument that this trivializes the Holocaust by likening the highly beneficial and completely benign just-a-mask to the Nazi armband.
It’s entirely uncertain how this will end in the courts and Hopkins has certainly aroused flaming hatred from left-/green-leaning circles in Germany. As Berlin is known to have a very active radical left scene, he should really be watching his back because these guys are violent
and don’t mind doing stuff like hammer attacks of gangs against “undesirables” in their own houses.
¹ https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/DE/rechtsextremismus/2022-02-rechtsextremismus-symbole-zeichen-organisationen.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=10
It’s possible he half expected this and decided to do it anyway, to make a point. I don’t know much about him but he seems pretty angry about stuff, angry enough to put himself in danger.
Not really. In another text, he specifically states that he means to stay away from beat up first, don’t ask questions later people like the police. And the German radical left is composed to such people.
Well that contradicts what he actually did- I mean even I know you’re not allowed to use those images
About time people challenged these anachronistic edicts. I have heard Neo-Nazis use the fact that they have no free speech to justify their existence.
I think they are a terrible idea, but judging by the reaction of my German relatives when I shared my concerns regarding the “covid” tyranny going down a bad path the edicts seem like an article of faith for some at least.
They were forcibly imposed for the purpose of denazification by the so-called allied powers after 1945. Which means that the congress-shall-make-no-law Americans took part in this.
I think that it was around 2008 that a waxwork of Hitler was attacked and his head torn off with the vandal shouting ‘no more wars’… I’m sure that waxwork had his uniform with the Swastika on his hat. Before the waxwork was vandalised, everyone was drawn to it, I suppose just like everyone likes a good Thriller.
Mr. Hopkins is well aware of the rules in Germany and why his actions did not transgress them. See his article https://cjhopkins.substack.com/p/the-1st-amendment-will-not-save-you in which he quotes verbatim sections 1, 2 and 3 of the relevant German law.
This lacks an argument why a swastika displayed in this particular way would either have been used (mistranslations corrected)
The correct § is also the next one (§86a — public display of symbols of unconstitutional or terrorist organizations) which just refers back to the list above. 1) is government propaganda which obviously doesn’t apply. 2) is use by government organisations or NGOs to “fight fascism” which certainly doesn’t apply, either. 3) obviously doesn’t apply as well. And neither does 4) as he wasn’t reporting about someone else’s use of a swastika, either current or historical.
This leaves political satire as the only possible legal excuse. In my opinion, that’s obviously what it is. But in the (likely) opinion of the government dingbats behind this, he called them Nazis in order to insult them gravely and shock-promote a product he wanted to sell while all they were doing was trying to protect the general public from an extremely dangerous disease (as declared by the WHO, different opinions on that principally not allowed in Germany).
“artistical” – Lol
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/artistical
This is a nice demonstration that even the most well-intentioned censorship laws always misfire in the end because the authorities will use them to silence people critical of themselves.
Well-intentioned censorship laws is somewhat of a contradiction in terms. Banning certain forms of expression, and I’d say this even includes a symbol that’s clearly and obviously linked to the worst crimes of the 20th century, only drives that expression underground where it’s harder to try and counter it with alternative opinions.
The possibly for the ban on displaying a swastika to be abused is immense. I’m surprised that so far no one who wants AFD banned has attended one of their rallies with a swastika to try and show AFFD is ‘fascist’.
The main German censorship law is “well-intentioned” because it’s officially meant to protect young people from being exposed to material that’s too dangerous for them due to lack of maturity.
As to attending an AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, going back to the government claims that resolving the so-called sovereign debt crisis required putting out the flames by dumping loads of German money onto them was the only available political option) with a swastika, that would be really effective way to get onself hurt and into an uncomfortable police cell quickly. The AfD goes to extreme lengths to demonstrate conformity with everything the system demands.
This obviously doesn’t help them but they (or rather, their security guys) will certainly terminate such a show mercilessly.
alo alo!
Spot on. Never forgive. Never forget. I trust he will win his appeal. God speed to CJ and may the true fascists burn in hell.
This past week, thousands of people have been out in the streets all over Germany protesting against fascism, chanting “never again is now”. Many of these people spent the past three years, 2020 to 2023, unquestioningly obeying orders, parroting official propaganda and demonising anyone who dared to question the Government’s unconstitutional and authoritarian actions during the so-called Covid pandemic. Many of these same people, those who support Palestinian rights, are now shocked that the new form of totalitarianism they helped usher into existence is being turned against them.
https://off-guardian.org/2024/02/07/the-resistible-rise-of-the-new-normal-reich/
And here is the response from C J Hopkins to the Appeal.
What an excellent example of the perfect truth bomb dressed up as a statement. 100% spot on that. What the hell is happening in Germany though? Basically, if you challenge the system and are in any way outspoken in your dissent ( especially if you have a large audience/following ) then you get labelled as a ”right wing extremist” and are deemed ‘Public Enemy Number One’ then they go full-on ‘Gestapo’ on your arse. What with Reiner Fuellmich and Prof Bhakdi, CJ is in good company. Another example of what they define as ”right wing extremist” here. Not that they’re feeling slightly threatened or anything…
”The youth wing of Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has hit back after a court ruled that the country’s domestic intelligence service could spy on it as a “right-wing extremist” group.
The youth organisation, known as Junge Alternative (JA), said the “absurd” ruling was yet another undemocratic attempt by the country’s political elite to destroy the AfD, which is riding high in opinion polls.
The ruling by an administrative court in Cologne comes after the domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), last year classified the JA as a”gesichert rechtsextrem”—confirmed right-wing extremist—organisation. This allows for increased surveillance of the group and its members’ activities. The ruling was in effect a rejection of an injunction by the AfD and JA, which sought to remove the classification.
The court claimed JA propagates the exclusion of “ethnic foreigners” from society, “continues to engage in massive anti-foreigner, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim agitation,” and is acting against the “principles of democracy.” The court also accuses JA of equating modern Germany with dictatorial regimes, in particular the Nazi regime and the former Communist-ruled East Germany, something JA strongly denies.
As Joachim Kuhs, Member of the European Parliament for the AfD, told The European Conservative in a recent interview:
This panic mode is reflected in the fact that the aforementioned Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) recently placed its former chief, Hans-Georg Maaßen, under observation over, among other things, his alleged proximity to individuals in the ‘right-wing extremist’ scene.”
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/german-court-brands-afd-youth-wing-certified-right-wing-extremist/
I think the most accurate description of Germany today is that it is reverting to type.
A much better description would be: It’s the wet dream state of entities like the SPLC.
A well needed article, thank you.
“I hope that you will at least have the integrity to not pretend that you actually believe I am disseminating pro-Nazi propaganda, when you know very well that is not what I am doing.”
Integrity seems to be in short supply – almost non existent – amongst those in the world with authority. It’s as if a mind virus (the real virus) has swept over the planet, but I guess it’s what some German and Russian citizens would have understood in the 1930s before being hauled away: what totalitarianism looks like up close.
Completely amazes me how Germany is INCAPABLE of learning from its past.
I rarely comment on articles, but this man’s analysis is so on-the-money that I am compelled to register my wholehearted support for his powerful words.
Further comments would be welcomed
They know Mr Hopkins is correct ….. which is why their response is so punitive.