FBI Director Louis J. Freeh said Tuesday he is launching an investigation of American extremists who help German neo-Nazis.
He said German law enforcement authorities gave him reports documenting collusion between American extremists and German neo-Nazis. German authorities have been trying to crack down on right-wing extremists, who have killed 30 people over the past three years.The FBI director met Tuesday with his German counterpart, Hans-Ludwig Zachert, president of the Federal Criminal Office in Wiesbaden.
"Yesterday we discussed with the justice minister . . . cases involving hate crime and extremist rightist activity in the United States directed against minority groups here in Germany," Freeh told reporters.
Zachert provided other information, said Freeh, with Zachert at his side.
Freeh said the FBI would examine the reports "very vigorously, to make sure that we support any prosecution in Germany."
German officials say Gary Lauck of Lincoln, Neb., is the most important supplier of leaflets, posters and newspapers to neo-Nazis in Germany, where publishing the hate material is illegal. Lauck is out of reach of German authorities because his printing operation in the United States is protected by the First Amendment.
German news reports also say the Ku Klux Klan is drawing a growing number of sympathizers among German neo-Nazis.
Freeh said he can't stop American racists from printing neo-Nazi material because of free-speech guarantees, "no matter how despicable those thoughts may be."
But he indicated there may be a way to keep the propaganda from reaching Germany.
"There is a fairly fine line where an individual may go beyond mere speech or expressions, and begin to aid or abet" a crime in Germany, Freeh said.