“Why do you speak like that?” – CDU minister deletes “racist” comment in debate about riots

The “Gen Z rules” protests remained mostly peaceful nationwide, with a few exceptions: there were riots and clashes with the police in Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt. Stones and incendiary bottles were thrown in the Main metropolis, rioters destroyed shop windows and there was looting. More than 100 police officers were injured. Since then, domestic politics have been discussed in Hesse, and a line has been crossed: Manfred Pentz (CDU), Hesse's Minister for the Federal Government, International Affairs, Europe and Debureaucratization, had a heated exchange with users on social media and was also insulting, as the "Hessenschau" reports.

The CDU politician has now deleted the relevant post on his official Instagram channel. In a video on Wednesday he spoke about the riots and also used the term “migrant violence” in reference to the alleged perpetrators. There was a lot of backlash in the comments. A user named Sahak Ibrahimkhil then spoke in his comment about what he considered to be the “genocide-supporting, racist and authoritarian milieu of the Union”. Germany must therefore be “de-unionized”. Pentz replied: “Why do you speak like that?!” And further: “I don’t speak, I write”.

Volt politician sees “harsh racist announcement”

Sahak Ibrahimkhil is active for the Volt party in Essen and has Afghan roots. “I think he apologized to me for opportunistic reasons,” Ibrahimkhil told “Hessenschau” when asked. The explanation that Pentz had used a wrong tone didn't convince him either: "For me, that's a harsh, racist statement." He admitted that, as “Hessenschau” continues, “he was not squeamish with his Instagram reaction to the minister’s video.” “I am aware that I wrote an exaggerated comment, but it was within the limits,” says Ibrahimkhil. He therefore called for political consequences:

If Manfred Pentz were just a normal CDU member, the Volt politician continued, he might have overlooked the matter. “But from a minister, a European minister, it is a stark dimension.” Ibrahimhkil, but now also the federal party, Volt Germany, are therefore calling for the resignation of Manfred Pentz. "Anyone who publicly denigrates a person with racist linguistic clichés has not simply made a mistake in tone. This is not an apology, but an attempt to trivialize racism as a linguistic slip-up. This form of pseudo-apology tops it all off. Manfred Pentz must resign from his office with immediate effect," says the Federal Executive Board's statement. Under the posting - the video can still be seen - the CDU politician also received headwinds from other users: "Why (you) speak like that?" was said in a number of comments.