Telegram group allegedly wanted to kidnap Lauterbach

Created: 04/14/2022Updated: 04/14/2022 11:38 am

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) repeatedly reports of threats against him.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

A chat group is said to have planned a blackout and “civil war-like conditions” with attacks.

Minister of Health Lauterbach was also in the sights of her plans.

Mainz - Members of a chat group in the short message service Telegram are said to have planned explosive attacks and kidnappings in Germany - for example by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

Now investigators under the leadership of the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Koblenz and the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Rhineland-Palatinate are taking action against them in a number of federal states, as they reported on Thursday in Mainz.

According to the information, around twelve people from the chat group are identified.

They are said to have planned to destroy power supply facilities in order to trigger a nationwide power outage.

Power lines and substations are said to have been targeted.

"According to the accused, this should cause civil war-like conditions and ultimately overthrow the democratic system in Germany," said a statement from the public prosecutor's office and the LKA.

Investigations against the group have been ongoing since October last year.

Lauterbach repeatedly reported threats

In addition, the "kidnapping of well-known public figures" is said to have been part of the group's plans.

The investigators named Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach as a target.

The SPD politician had repeatedly reported threats against him.

At the beginning of March, after the Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) had resigned due to constant hostility, among other things, the Federal Health Minister wrote on Twitter: “It is a shame that he was forced out of office by threats.

I, too, am under surveillance around the clock and know this burden.” Last autumn, Lauterbach wrote: “For days there have been calls on the internet again to kill me.

It is absolutely unacceptable that something like this does not have to be deleted immediately.”

As part of the investigation into the chat group, 20 properties in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia were searched on Wednesday.

There were most actions with five in Rhineland-Palatinate, there were three each in Bavaria and Lower Saxony.

Around 270 officers, including special units, were deployed.

Weapons, ammunition, cash, gold bars and silver coins were seized.

Four suspects were arrested and arrest warrants had been applied for.

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Accordingly, Germans aged 55, 54, 50, 42 and 41 are accused of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state and of violating the Weapons and War Weapons Control Act.

The people of the Corona protest scene and the Reich Citizens' Movement can be assigned.

This combination is what is special about this group, said LKA President Johannes Kunz.

The main suspect is said to be a 55-year-old from Neustadt/Weinstrasse in Rhineland-Palatinate and from Brandenburg.

The 55-year-old was arrested when preparing to hand over a weapon.

dpa