Pegida chief quits over racism probe

The leader of the fast-growing German anti-Muslim movement Pegida resigned after a photo of him posing as Hitler, and reports that he called refugees “scumbags”, prompted prosecutors to investigate him for inciting racial hatred.

Lutz Bachmann, a 41-year-old convicted burglar, had appeared on the front page of top-selling daily newspaper Bild sporting a Hitler moustache and haircut.

Bild and another paper said he had called asylum-seekers “animals” and “scumbags”.