Fake video and police search mark lead-up to Berlin state election

Ahead of Berlin's state parliament election on 20 September, fact-checkers and law enforcement addressed separate incidents involving the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Fact-checking outlets Correctiv and Deutsche Welle identified a viral video shared on social media as fraudulent. The footage, viewed over 300,000 times on X, falsely depicted a man destroying mail-in ballots cast for the AfD while preserving a ballot for the CDU.

In a separate development on 15 September, Berlin police searched the apartment of a staff member working for Kristin Brinker, the AfD's top candidate in Berlin. According to the public prosecutor's office, the operation stemmed from suspected violations of German weapons law. Prosecutors confirmed that officers found no evidence supporting the initial firearms allegations during the search.

Sources: Correctiv, DW, Der Spiegel, FAZ, Tagesschau