SHARIA ENFORCERS IN GERMANY

There have been sharia gangs in Britain, and now, there's some in Germany too:

Muslim radicals have begun enforcing Islamic Sharia law on the streets of Wuppertal, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the largest Muslim population in Germany.

In what government officials say is a blatant challenge to the rule of law and the democratic order in Germany, groups of young bearded Islamists — some wearing orange traffic safety vests emblazoned with the words "Sharia Police" — have declared parts of downtown Wuppertal to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone."

The self-appointed guardians of public morals have been distributing yellow leaflets that explain the Islamist code of conduct in the city's Sharia zones. They have urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to listen to Salafist sermons and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, listening to music, pornography or prostitution.

A seven-minute propaganda video in German, entitled "Sharia Police: Coming Soon to Your City," shows a group of men led by a German convert to Islam, Sven Lau, roaming the streets of Wuppertal at night and pressing wayward youth to embrace radical Islam. In some instances, the men physically attempted to prevent young people from entering bars, casinos and discotheques; those who resisted were pursued and intimidated.

After local residents alerted German authorities, police stepped up their presence in downtown Wuppertal and also established a telephone hotline to enable citizens to report any possible criminal activity.

Local authorities, however, appear uncertain about how to proceed. [...]

More than a dozen Islamists between the ages of 19 and 30 are now being investigated on charges of illegal assembly. But the men have not been arrested and police say they have no legal authority to confiscate the orange vests, even though impersonating a police officer is a crime. Wuppertal's Public Prosecutor, Wolf-Tilman Baumert, says it remains unclear whether the men have done anything illegal. "The mere explaining of religious rules is not a crime," he said.

If they haven't been busted for their offensive hooliganism, then all this tells is they're showing weakness in the face of the intimidation. How do they expect to combat the growing problem then?