After the police broke Daniel's hand during an anti-fascist protest, his blood dripped onto their uniform. According to the judge, he must have done this on purpose. Daniel has now been sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for assault.

The Nuremberg anti-fascist Daniel was sentenced on Thursday to a prison sentence of 14 months suspended for three years. He also has to pay a fine of 2,500 euros. The trial against the anti-fascist Daniel began in Nuremberg last week.

He is accused, among other things, of bleeding several police officers during the counter-protest against a fascist march on September 27, 2025 in Nuremberg. The whole thing is a physical attack against law enforcement officers. The strange thing about it: The blood came from Daniel's freshly broken hand, which was smashed by a USK officer when they stormed towards the anti-fascists and beat them with batons.

Blood on police uniform as a “physical attack”: Trial against Nuremberg anti-fascists begins

The trial begins with the exclusion of spectators and under high security precautions

The first date of the trial against Daniel began last week on October 27th, 2026. Around 60 people gathered for the rally in front of the courthouse. However, only about 20 spectators were allowed into the hall because the judge refused to provide a larger hall. The spectators had to undergo double security checks. In addition to the regular admission control at the entrance to the court, all spectators' identity cards were photographed and the people were intensively patted down before entering the hall.

The trial itself was characterized by the vague and sometimes contradictory statements of several police officers invited as witnesses. A police officer claimed Daniel hit her head 3 times with a flagpole during a Monday action. However, when questioned about the exact course of the crime, she repeatedly got tangled up in inconsistencies.

The highlight of her questioning was when she didn't even recognize Daniel, who was sitting a few meters next to her. Nevertheless, she is certain that it was him who had hit her three times a year earlier, hitting her head once. At that time, in her witness report, she stated that she had suffered painful redness. A year later, she was now absolutely convinced that she had also suffered a scratch and a dent. However, she was unable to show this when examining photos that were taken a few hours after the alleged crime.

Injured after shots fired at anti-fascist demonstration in Halle (Saale)

Another accusation concerned that Daniel was said to have masked himself for a total of 9 minutes at an anti-fascist counter-protest. The public prosecutor and the investigating police officer claimed that the mask served to conceal crimes. Daniel, in turn, made it clear that the mask serves as protection against right-wing streamers and fascists. In the end, this was embedded in the verdict as a criminal offense with a fine of 10 daily rates.

Beating USK officers with memory gaps

The most detailed point of the trial was the events on September 27th. By showing videos and public reporting on that day, the defense was able to demonstrate that the police operation that day was grossly exaggerated. In addition to Daniel's broken hand, several excessive acts of violence on the part of the police also resulted in several other people being injured, some of them seriously. These include broken jaws, crushed toes and people trampled by police horses.

The USK officers who were on duty that day probably have a different perception. They were in the situation and could remember that Daniel was said to have splashed his blood on them. However, no one knew where Daniel's injury came from. Some officers also had no memory of using a baton at all.

In the video played previously, however, it was clearly visible how a group of USK officers stormed towards demonstrators and hit them several times. One of the officers first hits the spine of an activist, then turns to Daniel. A loud metallic bang can be heard as his baton crashes into a street sign where Daniel had just been holding his right hand. Shortly afterwards, his left hand was broken by a second blow.

Germany and the USA: Common strategies against “Antifa”?

Further questioning of the witnesses also revealed that the police operation on September 27th and in particular its proportionality were no longer an issue within the unit or the police station as a whole. The public prosecutor's office also saw no need to initiate investigations against the police, despite the strong media presence of the issue and the city council's debate about it. You can't investigate everything that appears somewhere in public, said the public prosecutor when asked by the lawyer.

Anyone who doesn't follow the rules has to learn from it

Due to a sick witness, another trial date was set for November 5th. Since the witness was ill again, this appointment only deals with the conclusion of the hearing and the pleadings. On that day, the public prosecutor's office at least announced that it had now initiated an investigation against the USK officer who used the beating.

On the first day of the trial, the judge admitted that Daniel's hand had probably been smashed by a police officer's baton. Nevertheless, she made a harsh judgment and based her reasons primarily on the vague statements made by the police. The judge herself accused Daniel, who was obviously in shock at the time, of not sufficiently identifying his broken hand and calling for an ambulance, but instead deliberately concentrating on bleeding all over the police officers.

She also justified the sentence of one year and two months in prison, three years of probation and a fine of 2,500 euros by saying that anyone who doesn't follow the rules will have to face the consequences. In the case of Daniel, this means: Anyone who wants to stand in the way of fascists and is beaten up by the police not only gets a broken hand, but is also condemned by the state for it.

In his final statement, Daniel was nevertheless combative. Regardless of the expected punishment, he will continue to fight consistently in an anti-fascist manner and will not allow himself to be defeated.

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