Germany bans neo-Nazi group with links to US, conducts raids in 10 German states

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Germany and is raiding homes of dozens of its members. The group is an offshoot of an American ring-wing extremist group and plays a prominent role across Europe. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Tuesday the ban is a “hard blow against organized right-wing extremism.” The Hammerskins Germany is an offshoot of the Hammerskins Nation founded in the United States in 1988. The German offshoot plays a prominent role in the right-wing extremist scene in Europe. Worldwide, members of this association see themselves as “brotherhood” and the elite of the right-wing extremist skinhead scene.