Schwerin: AfD lawmaker's hand gesture angers Left and SPD – calls for reprimand
AfD lawmaker Tommy Thormann posted a video showing a hand gesture used by right-wing extremists as a "White Power" sign. The AfD group says it means "all good".
Archive image · Photo: Kolossos / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
A hand gesture by AfD lawmaker Tommy Thormann has sparked a dispute in the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. For the inaugural session in Schwerin, Thormann posted an Instagram video in which he forms a circle with his thumb and index finger while extending the other fingers. According to the Bavarian information office against extremism, the gesture is used in far-right circles as a "White Power" sign; among divers it is also known as the "OK" signal.
Left Party group leader Hennis Herbst asked parliament president Birgit Hesse in writing to have the presidium examine the incident and consider a reprimand. "Parliament must not accept such provocations without objection," he wrote. SPD group leader Julian Barlen demanded Thormann's immediate expulsion from the AfD group, calling the incident "unworthy of a German state parliament".
The AfD group rejected that interpretation, saying that for Thormann the gesture simply means "läuft" ("all good") and is not a political symbol. The AfD came first in September's election, but its candidate Carlos Rodrigues failed to win the presidency or either vice-presidency. The presidium now consists only of SPD, Left and Green members.