German comedian Sebastian Hotz, known by his stage name “El Hotzo,” was acquitted by a Berlin court on Wednesday in a case involving controversial social media posts.
The posts, which commented on last year’s assassination attempt on U.S. President Donald Trump, were deemed satirical and not criminal.
Judge Andrea Wilms ruled that Hotz’s comments on X, formerly Twitter, following the attack did not meet the legal standard for disturbing the peace. While she acknowledged the remarks might have been in poor taste, she described them as “non-punishable satire.”
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“People must be able to argue about good and bad opinions,” she stated.
One of Hotz’s posts compared the shots fired at Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania to “the last bus,” writing that, unfortunately, both had been “just missed.” In another post, he wrote: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic when fascists die.”
Trump survived the attack with only a minor injury to his upper right ear. However, one attendee was killed, and two others were seriously wounded. The gunman was fatally shot by security personnel.
Following backlash, Hotz deleted the posts. Regional broadcaster RBB later ended its collaboration with him on a youth programme.
At the Tiergarten District Court, the prosecutor had requested a mild fine of €6,000 ($7,040), arguing that satirists are not above the law. He contended that the posts constituted hate speech and could disturb public peace, especially given Hotz’s large following of 740,000 on X. He warned such rhetoric could foster a climate conducive to attacks on public officials.
Hotz defended his posts, asserting that satire should not be taken literally. “As a satirist, I’m a little less serious than many of my colleagues,” he said, urging the public to understand satire as a form of humour. NAN
