A Berlin court on Wednesday acquitted German satirist Sebastian Hotz, known online as “El Hotzo,” of charges stemming from controversial social media posts that prosecutors claimed celebrated an assassination attempt on Donald Trump during the 2024 U.S. election campaign.
The case revolved around a post Hotz made on X (formerly Twitter) in July 2024, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was grazed by a bullet, and one of his supporters was killed. In a since-deleted post, Hotz wrote, “unfortunately just missed,” comparing Trump to “the last bus.” He followed it with another message: “I find it absolutely fantastic when fascists die.”
Trump survived the attack and went on to win the U.S. presidency in November.
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German prosecutors charged Hotz with “approval of offenses” and disturbing the public peace, citing the reach of his post to nearly 740,000 followers. During a one-day trial at the Tiergarten district court, they requested a €6,000 (about $7,030) fine, labeling the comments hate speech with the potential to incite violence.
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However, Hotz defended his statements as satire. “Playing with provocation” is part of his work, he told the court, adding that his remarks should be interpreted in a humorous context.
Presiding judge Andrea Wilms agreed, ruling that while the posts may have been in poor taste, they were clearly satirical and did not incite violence. “Such clearly satirical utterances” would not inspire real-world harm, she said, according to a court-issued statement.
Earlier in the week, the German Journalists’ Association condemned the prosecution as excessive and called for the case to be dismissed. They stressed the importance of protecting satirical speech, especially in political commentary, AP reported. Meanwhile, public broadcaster RBB had already cut ties with Hotz due to the controversy.
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