Murder of Walter Lübcke

On the night of 1–2 June 2019, German politician Walter Lübcke, the Regierungspräsident (regional governor) of the Kassel region, was assassinated at his home in Wolfhagen-Istha, Hesse, Germany. Lübcke was found dead from a gunshot to the head by his son a few hours after his murder.

Right-wing extremist Stephan Ernst was arrested as the prime suspect two weeks later and further implicated by DNA evidence. He issued a confession, which Ernst recanted shortly after, instead claiming that one of his accomplices had been the gunman, although this was retracted by the time of trial two years later. Investigations against two other right-wing extremists, accused of co-planning the murder with Ernst and being present at the shooting, were suspended in 2019 and 2020. On 28 January 2021, Ernst was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Lübcke had spoken out for the admittance of refugees and had opposed agitation against them by the local offshoot of the far-right political movement Pegida at a public meeting in October 2015. He subsequently received numerous death threats for many years.

Lübcke's murder and its background and consequences started a broad public debate in Germany, due to which right-wing terrorism, executed by Combat 18 and related fascist organizations and individuals, received more scrutiny. The debate concerns the German security authorities' knowledge of the suspects, the possible co-responsibility of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the murder, the relationship of the major political party Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) with the AfD, increasingly frequent attacks on local politicians, and the lack of prosecution of hate crimes in social networking services and social media.