MOSCOW, January 21 (Sputnik) — The founder of Germany's "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West" (Pegida) movement has stepped down amid criticism over him posing for a photograph as Adolf Hitler, Bild reported on Wednesday.
Photo of Pegida leader styled as Adolf Hitler goes viral http://t.co/61h30iuRH2 pic.twitter.com/F7lawCAY4t
— The Guardian (@guardian) 21 января 2015
"Yes, I am stepping down," Lutz Bachmann was quoted as saying by the publication.
An organizer of regular anti-Islamization rallies, the German branch of Pegida was founded in Dresden last October. Since then, it has attracted the support of thousands of Germans, including anti-immigration and far-right groups. The group's reach has spread across Europe, with branches active in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Switzerland, among others.
Last Monday's Pegida rally attracted around 25,000 participants in Dresden following a recent series of deadly attacks in France carried out by Islamist gunmen. Subsequent marches were canceled so as not to risk members' lives in light of threats against the group surfacing online.
