Not that this justifies what happened at all, but:
"Bangert, a veteran of the Blockupy protests in Frankfurt, had set up a group calling itself "NSA spy protection league" (NSA Spion Schutzbund), as if the US spies were an endangered species of birds"
Would it be more reasonable to think that this individual was probably already being monitored as part of his Blockupy, and perhaps the German government was the one watching him more than the NSA was?
German police is monitoring Facebook and has been for years. We once had a Conference at our University. Someone posted something about a party (back when everyone was afraid of facebook parties) and 15 minutes later the police arrived.
They were not allowed to enter the premises, but by coincidence winkwink someone pulled the fire alarm in a then-vacant building 15 minutes later, which opened the gates and barriers for the cop cruisers waiting just around the corner. By coincidence of course.
"Bangert, a veteran of the Blockupy protests in Frankfurt, had set up a group calling itself "NSA spy protection league" (NSA Spion Schutzbund), as if the US spies were an endangered species of birds"
Would it be more reasonable to think that this individual was probably already being monitored as part of his Blockupy, and perhaps the German government was the one watching him more than the NSA was?