American writer living in Germany could face jail time for using satirical swastika to voice dissent

An American writer living in Germany could face years in jail after being found guilty of disseminating propaganda for his satirical use of the Nazi swastika.

“It’s been going on for what feels like forever. It does grind you down,” CJ Hopkins told FIRE in an exclusive interview after the Sept. 30 judgment. “I’m not going to stop fighting, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t get knocked down sometimes, so this is a knockdown.”

A Berlin district prosecutor charged Hopkins, who relocated to the European nation in 2004, with disseminating propaganda after he posted two images on X featuring an illustration of a white swastika behind a white medical mask, comparing Germany’s strict COVID-19 policies to Nazism. Hopkins was acquitted in January, but a prosecutor appealed the verdict, sending him to Berlin Appellate Court where his acquittal was overturned on Monday. 

“I expected it, because if this court had any intention of respecting the law and following the law, it would have just dismissed the prosecutor’s arguments in the first place,” Hopkins told FIRE. 

The court even ordered anti-terrorism security protocols for his second trial, which limited the number of observers to a small crowd shoved behind a glass partition in the back of the courtroom, according to Hopkins. Attendees had to surrender personal items and journalists were unable to bring in laptops, notebooks, or even pens, he added.

The judgment was yet another devastating milestone in the yearslong crusade against Hopkins for his dissent. Hopkins can’t appeal the high court’s judgment, and the case will be sent back to the Tiergarten District Court where he was originally acquitted to determine what his sentence will be. Depending on the outcome, he could face up to three years in jail for his use of the “unconstitutional” symbol, according to German law. 

“It is ridiculous and it is German,” Hopkins told FIRE. “The U.S. certainly doesn’t do it in this German fashion that is being done here, but as I’ve been saying like a broken record, this is happening all over. This is happening everywhere.”

Hopkins said he plans to take his case to the Federal Constitutional Court, which is similar to the U.S. Supreme Court. If granted, the case could be quickly dismissed or lead to another lengthy and expensive legal battle.

“When I started all this,” Hopkins told FIRE, “I said from the beginning, I kind of feel like it’s my responsibility. A lot of people can’t afford to do this. Part of what keeps me going is, I know a lot of people out there are grateful for it.”