Germany detains 25 people on coup plotting charges
Germany detains 25 people on coup plotting charges; in raids across Germany, 25 persons were arrested for planning to topple the government.
The far-right and ex-military leaders allegedly planned a “Day X” invasion of the Reichstag and takeover of power. They claim that Heinrich XIII, a member of a long-standing aristocratic family, played a crucial role in their scheme.
According to federal authorities, he is one of two alleged ringleaders detained in 11 German states.
The radical Reichsbürger [Citizens of the Reich] movement, which has long been under the radar of German police due to violent attacks and racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories, is reported to be among the plotters. They also refuse to acknowledge the state of modern Germany.
Other suspects are associated with the QAnon movement, which holds that a fictitious “deep state” of hidden forces manipulating politics controls their nation.
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Interior Minister Nancy Faeser assured Germans that law enforcement would use all available legal means “against the enemies of democracy.”
The killing was planned as a means to an end.
The organization, which is thought to have included 50 men and women, is accused of plotting to topple the republic and replace it with the Second Reich, an empire modeled after Germany in 1871.
A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office stated, “We don’t yet have a name for this organization. According to the interior minister, it appears to be composed of a military wing and a group called a “council.”
According to reports, the dawn raids on Wednesday were one of German history’s most extensive counter-extremism operations up to that point. In 11 of Germany’s 16 states, 3,000 officers participated in 150 operations, and two people were detained in Austria and Italy.
The southern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria saw almost half of the arrests. The southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg alone is thought to be home to more than one in five Reichsbürger.
The Reichsbürger: Who are they?
- ‘Citizens of the Reich’ oppose modern democracy in Germany and refuse to pay taxes.
- Thomas Haldenwang, head of BfV intelligence, claims that although they were once thought of as harmless cranks, they are now active and pose a severe threat.
- They were at 21,000 last year, but their numbers have increased significantly. 10% of them are reportedly violent, and antisemitism and conspiracy theories are common.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the gang’s central “Rat” (council) has been regularly gathering since November 2021 to organize a violent takeover.
The prosecution claimed they had already created plans to dominate Germany through health, justice, and foreign policy departments. Members knew that using “military tactics and violence against state leaders,” killing people, was the only way to achieve their objectives.
Investigators are believed to have learned about the group when they unearthed a kidnapping scheme involving a gang going by United Patriots in April last year.
They were allegedly involved in the Reichsbürger scene and plotted to kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and instigate “civil war circumstances” to end Germany’s.
It is believed that a former far-right AfD Bundestag member who was in line to become the group’s justice minister was involved in the plot. A court has rejected attempts to remove Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, one of the 25 people detained, from her position as a judge since she returned to it last year.
