German officials expressed their concern over the death of a gas station clerk who asked a customer to wear a mask on Saturday night as they fear it could lead to more outbursts against the nation’s mandate.
Annalena Baerbock, the Greens candidate for Germany’s Sept. 26 federal elections, said on Monday that she was “shaken” over the death of the clerk. Baerbock also expressed concern over Germany’s Querdenken movement, a political group opposed to masks and vaccines, according to the Associated Press.
The unidentified suspect, a 49-year-old man, was refused service by the gas station clerk for the suspect’s refusal to wear a mask. The man left and later came back with a gun, shooting the clerk in the head. The police arrested the suspect Sunday morning when he turned himself in, the outlet reported.
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“I’m shaken by this terrible murder of a young man who merely asked that existing rules be followed,” Baerbock tweeted.
Mich erschüttert der furchtbare Mord an einem jungen Mann, der nur darum bat, die geltenden Regeln zu befolgen, umsichtig und solidarisch zu sein. Mein Mitgefühl gilt seiner Familie und seinen Nächsten.
— Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) September 21, 2021
Paul Ziemiak, the general secretary of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, said the clerk’s death was “incomprehensible.” He also condemned the shooter’s actions, describing them as “an inconceivable level of radicalization.”
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Public outbursts against masks and vaccines have become increasingly common around the world. An Australian protest against the country’s lockdown on Saturday resulted in police arresting 267 protesters, with at least six officers requiring hospitalization after the protest. Similarly, anti-mask protesters in Connecticut interrupted a roundtable discussion on Aug. 25 held by the governor at the start of the school year.
