Police inspector Michael Fritsch delivered a moving speech at a protest in Dortmund, Germany on 9th Aug 2020. Below is a translation of his speech with some omissions. I have not translated the middle part of the speech which makes detailed reference to specific German laws.
“The title of my speech is: ‘I’m a patriot, not an idiot.’...My name is Michael Fritsch, I’m 57 and I’m a chief police inspector. I joined the police force in Lower Saxony when I was 17 and this has been my life. My father was a police officer and so is my brother. And I am the father of 3 wonderful grown-up children…. In full awareness of the possible consequences, I decided to prepare this speech and read it for you word for word; believe me, I have given much consideration to every single word…Up until now I have never been politically active nor have I expressed myself publicly. On 1st August for the first time in my life I participated (as a citizen) in a protest in Berlin. This protest for peace and freedom in Belin with several hundred thousand people was simply phenomenal, and without doubt (alongside various church gatherings that I have been involved in) the most peaceful that I have every seen. Thank you to all those who contributed to this. In 1981 I took an oath to the constitution and for many years I considered this constitution and our form of state to be the best in the world because it contained good provisions to prevent abuse. Article 20 of the constitution (German Grundgesetz) states that all power comes from the people, and this same article prevents abuse by the firm separation of state power into three groups: the executive, legislative and judiciary. For a long time, journalists formed the 4th unwritten power by investigating and often revealing political scandals. In my view, there has been no separation of power for some time. Why? Those who govern the police are tied to politics. Can anybody have a career in the police who is making politically undesirable decisions? Laws are drafted by lobbyists and often politicians have had to explain to courts why their laws are unconstitutional. And the media…I was in Berlin and I know how many of you, how many peaceful individuals were there. At this point I would like to remind all media representatives and politicians: ‘if you lie once, nobody will believe you again, even if you later speak the truth’ (German proverb). You have practically dug your own grave. Humanity is neither blind nor stupid, and the whole world today can seek information via many channels and reveal your lies. There are many lies and many opinions, but there is only one truth