German anti-immigrant group PEGIDA seeks new leader ... again

The European anti-Islam, anti-immigrant movement PEGIDA (the German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) is again accepting applications for its board. One week after the group’s former leader, Lutz Bachmann, quit because photos surfaced of him posing as Hitler, the new leader of the nativist German organization has stepped down.

Kathrin Oertel resigned after receiving an overwhelming number of “threats” and suffering “professional disadvantages,” according to a statement on the group’s Facebook page. A new board will be chosen in the next few days to lead PEGIDA, the statement added.

Bachmann, a 41-year-old convicted burglar, faces criminal investigation for inciting hatred after a photo of him wearing a Hitler moustache and haircut appeared on the front page of the German daily newspaper Bild. Bachmann also called asylum-seekers “animals” and “scumbags,” according to the publication.

Beginning in October of last year, PEGIDA has staged weekly demonstrations in Dresden against what members say is the growing influence of Islam in Europe. Marches have grown in recent months with participants now numbering in the tens of thousands, prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to condemn the movement and local government officials to revoke permits for last week’s gathering. As a result of the ban, the demonstrations moved to the German city of Leipzig last Thursday.

Counter-demonstrations for tolerance in both cities have attracted at least as many protesters.

Originally organized under the slogan “Germany for the Germans,” PEGIDA has garnered increased attention in the wake of the Paris attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market — in which gunmen claiming allegiance to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (also known as ISIL or ISIS) killed 17 people. Since then, the group has branched out into various European countries.

But as of Wednesday, the original franchise will be interviewing for its new leadership team.

Just don’t mention the war.