German police have raided the home of a man in the south of the country after he referred to public servants as “parasites” in a post on X.
The man – who calls himself “Sigartis” on X – wrote yesterday that he had been awoken by the doorbell earlier that day, followed by a raid of his house in the German State of Baden-Wurttemberg.
He claimed he was not given time to put on a bathrobe and had been left shaken by the events.
That came after he was reportedly charged with incitement over a post allegedly denigrating public servants and politicians.
On September 29, in a discussion with other X users, he had written: “Every person who is financed by the State pays no net taxes. They live off taxes. Every civil servant, every politician, every employee in a state-owned enterprise, everyone who is subsidised and financed by the state.
“Not a single parasite pays any net taxes.”
As of lunchtime today, the post had been viewed 378 times.
Nein, jeder Mensch der vom Staat finanziert wird zahlt Netto keine Steuern, er lebt von Steuern.
Jeder Beamte, jeder Politiker, jeder Angestellte in einem Staatsunternehmen, jeder der vom Staat subventioniert und finanziert wird.
Kein einziger Parasit zahlt Netto irgendwelche…— Sigartis⚡️🏰 (@Wnschmstr) September 29, 2025
The man later told German news platform Apollo News the police had rung his bell at six in the morning, telling him they had a search warrant for his home.
“They told me I had a choice: Either I unlock my phone and give them my PIN code and then they will only take the phone,” he said. “Or otherwise they would take everything.”
He added that he had co-operated and unlocked his mobile phone.
Officers then took “Sigartis” to the police station where he was registered, photographed and his fingerprints and other biometric data were taken.
“I felt like a real criminal,” he said. The police also asked him for a blood sample but he said he declined.
Sigartis claimed that one police officer had told him: “Better think about what you post in the future! You have to realise that you are now under surveillance.”
The man’s lawyer, Markus Pretzell, said the police actions – especially the identification measures at the station – were “clearly unlawful”.
Pretzell – who is himself a prominent libertarian politician – added: “We are now familiar with unlawful house searches for crimes of opinion as a mass phenomenon in Germany.
“However, with the use of identification measures, the Baden-Wurttemberg judiciary … is straying onto new paths. Overall, parasitic employment histories apparently lead to astonishing perceptions of constitutional principles,” he said.
“This must stop.”
Sigartis thanked his followers for their support early today and wrote that he had woken up in a panic that morning, thinking the police were raiding his house again. “I hope this goes away over time,” he added.
Police raids on private residences – often including the seizing of electronic devices – for contentious posts on social media have become a hallmark of German law enforcement.
One of the most notorious examples was the November 2024 raid on the home of a Bavarian pensioner and his handicapped daughter after the man had retweeted a meme likening then Greens party Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck to a “moron”.
In late October this year, law enforcement officers in Berlin raided the apartment of prominent publicist Norbert Bolz over a post on X in which he satirically used a slogan attributed to the Nazi Party.
The German police and judiciary have held “action days” against online hate with dozens of simultaneous raids in different cities.
Between 2021 and 2024, public prosecutors initiated more than 1,300 proceedings against people who had allegedly “insulted” politicians, online or offline.
