dpa/bb | “Nius” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt’s car was set on fire and largely destroyed. According to Reichelt, the arson attack occurred on Friday night in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Reichelt himself reported about the car that was set on fire on the Nius portal on the Internet. Police confirmed a deliberate arson was reported by a passerby at 2:07 a.m., but did not give a name. The alerted fire department extinguished the fire.

Reichelt, who was formerly editor-in-chief of the Bild newspaper, said: “It is absolutely clear that this was a targeted attack.” Reichelt spoke of an “attempt to intimidate against new, free media that oppose this left-wing extremism.” Presumably it was specifically spied out which car was his. Nius also showed photos of the destroyed car.

Similar arson attacks occurred several years ago on the cars of a columnist for the newspaper B.Z. In one case, a letter of responsibility with left-wing extremist content was later published.