American Satirist Gets Acquitted in Germany for Tweeting Swastikas

‘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.’

Author C.J. Hopkins (C) with his lawyer Friedemann Däblitz (R) at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin on Jan. 23, 2024. Matthias Kehrein/The Epoch Times

BERLIN—American C.J. Hopkins was sitting in the dock of the Berlin Tiergarten district court on Jan. 23.

He’s accused of violating Paragraph 86a of the German Criminal Code, “Use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.” Mr. Hopkins is a playwright, novelist, and political satirist and has been living in Germany for more than 20 years.