Initiative
Justice for Lorenz
Justice for Lorenz Initiative
On the night before Easter Sunday 2025, Lorenz was shot and killed by police in downtown Oldenburg. Four bullets struck Lorenz—three of them from behind. Lorenz was only 21 years old.
Since then, protests against racist police violence have been taking place in Oldenburg and across Germany. We and many others are saddened, horrified, and outraged by Lorenz’s far too early and violent death and the racist conditions in Germany.
That is why we as the “Justice for Lorenz” initiative are campaigning for a comprehensive and independent investigation into the night of the crime and for consequences. The “Justice for Lorenz” initiative is an association of relatives, friends, individuals in solidarity, activists from United Against Racism Oldenburg and counselors from the nationwide online counseling Pena.ger e.V.
Lorenz's death is not an exceptional case
Lorenz's death is not an exceptional case. The German police are structurally racist. Time and time again, police operations end fatally when black and marginalized people are involved. This was also evident near Oldenburg in recent years with the death of the Yazidi Qosay Khalaf in Delmenhorst in 2021 and the killing by police gunfire of the refugee Lamin Touray in Nienburg in 2024. For an accurate analysis of the problem, it is therefore important for us to emphasize the context of the racist German dominance society despite our focus on Lorenz.
The “Death in Custody” campaign has counted 264 deaths of Black people, People of Color (PoC) and people affected by racism in custody or due to fatal police violence since 19901.
According to the count and documentation by “Civil Rights & Police/CILIP, more people were shot dead by the police in Germany in 2024 than in any other year documented by them since 1976. And even in 2025 (as of May 6, 2025), according to their count, 10 people have already been shot dead by the police in Germany2.
Remembering Lorenz
It is also very important for us to emphasize something very fundamental: Lorenz was a human being.
Lorenz was a son - a brother - a friend - a child of the city of Oldenburg - a part of our community. Many people knew, liked and loved Lorenz and miss him bitterly. We will forever say his name, remember him and make sure that the world does not forget him.
Especially in light of the racist and inhuman slander that Lorenz was subjected to in parts of the press and in comment sections after his death,3we want to remember Lorenz as a loved one who was violently taken from life.
Since his death, thousands of people have visited and paid their respects at the site in downtown Oldenburg. Many have left flowers, candles, or other tokens of remembrance there. Tens of thousands have already demonstrated in Oldenburg and across Germany in support of Lorenz and all those who have experienced and continue to experience racism and violence at the hands of the police. This gives us courage and hope in our shared fight for justice for Lorenz!
Our demands
- a gapless investigation - independent and complete!
- Use of bodycams during police operations!
- Consequences in the event of misconduct and disproportionate action by the police!
- Independent complaints bodies, external monitoring and structural transparency!
- Criticism of racism mandatory in basic and further training for police, judiciary & administration!
- Measures against institutional racism in state structures!
- Making the experiences of black, indigenous and people of color (BIPoC) and refugees visible in the political public sphere!
- Protective measures for marginalized groups!
- Recognition and promotion of community-based protective measures for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) and refugees in politics & the public!
Current legal status
On the 5th of November 2025 the public prosecutor's office Oldenburg announced4that it will press charges against the police officer who shot Lorenz for negligent homicide. Now the Oldenburg Regional Court must decide in “interim proceedings” whether the lawsuit will be admitted and a main trial opened.
We criticize the grounds for the charges and demand a charge of manslaughter. In our opinion, multiple shots fired from behind are not an accident, but an expression of lethal police violence.
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