German extremist jailed for driving into police officer

BERLIN (AP) — A German anti-government extremist has been convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison for deliberately driving into a police officer during an attempted traffic check while intoxicated. The verdict delivered by the Stuttgart state court on Friday comes amid persistent concern over the activities of supporters of the Reich Citizens Movement, a loose far-right grouping whose backers deny the legitimacy of the present-day German constitution and government. The court said the defendant became increasingly radicalized over recent years, had described police officers as “combatants” in chats in 2021 and asserted that he had the right to “eliminate (these) combatants without punishment.”