“Currently the most aggressive”: an expert rates the Reichsbürger scene as “capable and willing” to commit terror

Created: 2022-12-08Updated: 2022-12-08 06:41

The Reich Citizens' Scene is in the sights of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Thousands of police officers have now been deployed in almost all federal states to arrest suspects.

• Reichsbürger "head" is said to have

  contacted

  Russia : Kremlin rejects connections

• Reichsbürger raids

  in

  Germany

  : 19 people arrested are in custody

• Raid

  on suspected

  citizens

  of the Reich : suspected planned coup d'etat - members of the Bundeswehr also targeted

• This

  news ticker

  on the nationwide

  Reich citizen raid

  is continuously updated.

Update from December 8,

6:33 a.m .: The terrorism expert Peter Neumann sees

a serious threat to security in Germany in the "Reichsbürger" scene

"In my opinion, right-wing extremism represents the greatest terrorist threat in Germany and within this scene, Reich citizens are currently the most aggressive," Neumann told the

.

Reich citizen milieu in Germany

"Reich citizens" are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures.

They often refuse to pay taxes.

Often they are in conflict with authorities.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution ascribes around 21,000 followers to the scene.

According to the authorities, around five percent of them, i.e. around 1,150, are right-wing extremists.

In 2021, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution attributed 1,011 extremist crimes to the "Reichsbürger und Selbstverwalter" scene.

“They pose the greatest threat of terrorist violence.

They are capable and willing to carry out serious terrorist attacks against the state," Neumann warned.

The determination of the Reich Citizens' Movement to carry out such acts has grown more strongly as a result of the corona pandemic than in any other group.

"They formulate resistance narratives most clearly and claim to have the right and legitimacy to mount armed resistance against the state," said the expert.

Unfortunately, many of them own weapons or are trained to use them.

An arrest as part of the raid against the Reichsbürger scene © Boris Roessler/dpa

Update from December 7, 10:40 p.m .:

The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, assumes that after the major raid against a Reich Citizens’ Group, the number of suspects will increase.

Münch spoke on

- "heute journal" after the 25 arrests on Wednesday of 54 suspects and over 150 searches.

It is likely that other suspects will be found and further searches will be carried out in the next few days.

Münch emphasized that the aim of the searches on Wednesday was not to wait until the last moment, but to collect enough evidence that it was a terrorist organization.

The coup plans were known, but there is still no clarity about the timing.

However, the BKA president referred to a “council” that makes decisions and a military arm that also procures weapons.

Weapons were also found in 50 objects, from crossbows and slingshots to pistols and long guns as well as ammunition.

"They don't wait until the last moment.

But when that is then clear, then it also means: Strike.”

Raid on Reich citizens: 19 people are taken into custody on the same day

Update from December 7, 9:45 p.m .:

After the major raid on the Reich Citizens Scene, 19 of the 25 suspects arrested on Wednesday are now in custody.

In the 19 cases, investigating judges at the Federal Court of Justice had executed the arrest warrants, said a spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe.

This concludes the performances for Wednesday.

According to plan, suspects are still to be presented to the judges this Thursday.

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Update from December 7th, 9:00 p.m .:

According to Federal Public Prosecutor Peter Frank, the Reich Citizens Group, which was exposed because of plans for a coup, has not yet had a specific date for the realization of its project.

Within the association, however, there were discussions as to whether certain external events could not have been a reason to strike, said Frank in an

"Focal Point".

"We assume that the people in the association were determined and were sure to do something," emphasized Frank.

Military equipment such as bulletproof vests was also found during the raids.

Some members had also prepared for shooting training.

The authorities are certain that there would have been a hit.

It was right to take action now in December and put an end to the association.

Update from December 7th, 8:25 p.m .:

The Defense Committee of the Bundestag will deal with the major raid on the Reich Citizens Scene.

The background to this is that, according to the Ministry of Defence, there are also a total of three soldiers among the suspects, including a soldier from the Special Forces Command (KSK) who is an active member of the Bundeswehr and two other non-active soldiers.

The committee chairwoman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) told the

that she had put the topic on the agenda for the upcoming meeting in order to find out details from the MAD military counter-intelligence service.

"We will dry out this brown soup," said Strack-Zimmermann.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, told the

that the accused active KSK member had been under surveillance for a long time.

"The KSK had already become aware of him." That's why she doesn't question the path of reforms in the KSK.

Raid against Reich citizens: 13 suspects are in custody

Update from December 7th, 5 p.m.:

More than half of the 25 suspects from the Reich citizen scene arrested on Wednesday are now in custody.

In 13 cases, investigating judges at the Federal Court of Justice executed the arrest warrants, said a spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe.

In none of the cases that have already been decided on have those affected been released.

According to plan, suspects are still to be presented to the judges this Thursday.

Update from December 7, 4:45 p.m .:

According to their own statements, the AfD party leadership knew nothing about the possible activities of the former Bundestag member Birgit Malsack-Winkemann in the so-called Reich citizen milieu.

"Like most citizens, we only found out about the case today from the media," said a joint statement by co-chairs Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel.

They added: "We condemn such efforts and strongly reject them." Now the results of the investigation have to be awaited.

The AfD chairmen, who had repeatedly criticized the protection of the constitution in the past, said: "We have complete confidence in the authorities involved."

Update from December 7th, 3:55 p.m .:

After her arrest in the course of the anti-terror campaign against the Reichsbürger scene, the judge Birgit Malsack-Winkemann is no longer involved in the current decisions of the Berlin district court.

The lawyer left the civil chamber 19a this Wednesday, which is responsible for construction matters, as a spokeswoman for the court announced on request.

The business allocation plan was changed accordingly on the same day by express decree.

Malsack-Winkemann is therefore not involved in current proceedings for the time being.

According to the information, she is still available as a judge on a so-called ready list.

Major raid in the Reichsbürger milieu: 3000 emergency services were involved in the action.

© IMAGO / HaertelPRESS

Reich citizen raid: Arrested in Italy is apparently a former officer

Update from December 7, 3:45 p.m .:

According to the Italian police, the German who was arrested in the course of the anti-terrorist campaign against the German Reich Citizens Scene near Perugia in Italy is a former officer in a Bundeswehr -special unit.

The 64-year-old was arrested in a hotel in Ponte San Giovanni, south-east of the central Italian city.

The police are currently investigating the extradition of the man.

Update from December 7th, 3.30 p.m .:

The protection of the constitution evaluates the large-scale raid in several federal states as an important “blow against militant and widely networked parts of the Reich citizen scene”.

The successful operation is based on the "close and trusting cooperation between the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the police authorities," said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang.

Among other things, the state authorities for the protection of the constitution in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse and the military counter-intelligence service (MAD) were involved in clarifying the facts.

The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution emphasized that the so-called Reich citizens and self-governing bodies pose a continuing high risk.

He said: "The scene is still very active and dynamic and has again received a significant number of visitors in the past year." The network that has now been uncovered is a prime example of the development of a new violence-oriented scene in which Reich citizen ideologies, conspiracy stories from the area of “Delegitimizers” of the state and right-wing extremist narratives mixed.

He warned: "Especially the propaganda of an impending 'Day X',

Steinmeier on Reich citizen raid: "Liberal democracy must also be a defensive one"

Update from December 7th, 3:25 p.m .:

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed concern about the alleged coup plans of so-called Reich citizens.

During a visit to Freiberg, Saxony, Steinmeier told the radio station MDR Aktuell on Wednesday that he did not yet know in detail what the investigators had.

It is "but a new level".

If it is confirmed that terrorist offenses are being prepared, "then action must also be taken, then criminal law must also set limits".

Germany is a liberal democracy.

"But this liberal democracy must also be a defensive one."

Meanwhile, the focus is on the aristocrat Heinrich Prince Reuss as the possible head of the alleged terror network.

from

shed light on the background of the hitherto largely unknown conspiracy theorist from Frankfurt

.

Update from December 7, 2:30 p.m .:

Eight of the 25 suspects from the Reich citizen scene arrested on Wednesday are now in custody.

That's what Attorney General Peter Frank said in Karlsruhe.

The federal government has classified the case as "highly dangerous".

"We're talking about an association that, based on what we know so far, has planned the joint elimination of our democratic constitutional state," said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Wednesday in Berlin.

He also referred to their plans for "an armed attack on the Bundestag."

Hebestreit recalled that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said in his government statement after taking office almost a year ago: "Right-wing extremism is the greatest threat to our democracy." Current events have shown "how bitterly true this assessment is".

The group that has now been uncovered has turned against everything "that connects us in Germany".

The government spokesman mentioned "rule of law, freedom, equality, protection of minorities".

Reich citizen raid: A person is taken out of a helicopter by police officers in Karlsruhe and led to a car.

The detention checks are carried out in Karlsruhe.

© Uli Deck/dpa

Reichsbürger "head" is said to have contacted Russia

Update from December 7, 1:25 p.m

.: New details on Heinrich XIII arrested in the course of the Reichtsbürger raids.

Prince Reuss: According to the current status of the investigation, Reuss is the presumed head of the association, said Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU).

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the nobleman is said to have contacted representatives of Russia.

The Russian embassy in Berlin promptly rejected any connections.

According to Russian agencies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It's more of an internal problem in Germany.

You yourself have stated that there can be no talk of Russian interference here.”

The federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe had previously stated that they had no indication "that the contact persons responded positively to his request".

Raid against Reichsbürger scene: head is said to come from Hesse

Update from December 7, 12:31 p.m

.: Heinrich XIII is one of the suspects of the anti-terrorist raid in the Reich citizen milieu.

Prince Reuss.

According to the federal prosecutor, the 71-year-old entrepreneur from Hesse, who is said to own a hunting lodge in eastern Thuringia, is suspected of having been a ringleader of the alleged terrorist group.

According to the investigation, the nobleman is said to have been the chairman of the group's central body and, in the event of the overthrow, to have been considered the "future head of state".

He is also said to have tried to contact representatives of the Russian Federation.

The man has now been arrested in Frankfurt.

After a raid on Reich citizens: FDP top politicians attacked AfD because of a suspected case

Update from December 7, 11:27 a.m

.: After the anti-terrorist raid, the group leaders of the traffic light coalition appeared before the media in Berlin.

They emphasized the defensiveness of democracy.

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr said that if it was confirmed that a former AfD member of the Bundestag was involved in a conspiracy, it showed the swamp in which the AfD as a party found itself: "They are by no means concerned with Germany, but in truth with them Destruction of parliamentary democracy.”

SPD colleague Rolf Mützenich (SPD) was also concerned: "The fact that parliament is obviously increasingly becoming the focus of those who are prepared to use violence, that affects parliamentarians, but they shouldn't do that hinder their work."

Raid in the Reichsbürger milieu: Investigators also arrest ex-AfD MPs

Update from December 7,

11:11 a.m .: According to dpa information, the Berlin judge and former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann is one of the 25 suspects arrested in the raid.

"We will exhaust all instruments to completely remove the accused from the judiciary," said Berlin's Senator for Justice Lena Kreck (left) now at the request of the news agency.

Malsack-Winkemann sat in the Bundestag for the AfD from 2017 to 2021.

After raids: Russian embassy rejects connection to "terrorist" groups in Germany

Update from December 7, 11:01 a.m

.: The Russian embassy is also apparently reacting to the major raid on the Reich citizen scene.

According to Russian agencies, she has now rejected any connection to "terrorist" groups in Germany, reports the AFP news agency.

Reich citizen raids in Germany: Faeser sees "overthrow fantasies"

Update from December 7, 10:55 a.m .:

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) recognizes an “abyss of terrorist threat” behind the alleged coup plans of a group from the right-wing extremist Reich Citizens scene.

"As far as the investigations are concerned, the alleged terrorist organization uncovered today is driven by fantasies of violent overthrow and conspiracy ideologies," explained Faeser.

“Our rule of law is strong.

We know how to fight back against the enemies of democracy with all our might," Faeser continued.

"I would like to thank the more than 3,000 federal and state police forces for their dangerous deployment today to protect our democracy."

Faeser expressed his horror at the uncovered group.

However, only further investigations would "provide a clear picture of how far the plans for the coup had progressed".

The minister announced a "tough approach" against such efforts.

Reichsbürger raid: Green faction vice draws comparison to the Capitol storm

Update from December 7th, 10:33 a.m

.: Green parliamentary group leader Konstantin von Notz considers the alleged coup plans from the “Reichsbürger” scene to be an extremely real danger.

With the raid, the authorities managed to "put a stop to very concrete plans to seize power," the politician told the news portal

.

The storming of the US Capitol has shown that anti-democratic talk can also be followed by action.

Reich citizen milieu: focus of raids in Baden-Württemberg

Update from December 7, 9:53 a.m

.: Baden-Württemberg was a focus of the searches against suspected Reich citizens, said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe.

According to information from the

and

, at least 30 apartments in the southwest of suspected corona deniers and "Reich citizens"

) are being searched. 

 "Democracy is defensive: A major anti-terrorist operation has been taking place since this morning," tweeted FDP Justice Minister Marco Buschmann about the nationwide raid. 

Searches at conspiracy theorists: According to investigators, group believes in “deep state”

Update from December 7th, 9:29 a.m

.: "We still don't have a name for this association," said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office on the major raid on Wednesday morning (December 7th).

According to the findings, the suspicious group is based on conspiracy myths.

The members are firmly convinced that Germany is currently governed by members of a "deep state", a "deep state", it said in a statement.

According to this conviction, an attack by a technically superior secret society of governments, intelligence services and the military of various countries, including Russia and the USA, is imminent.

Raid against Reichsbürger scene: a police officer secures an object in Frankfurt © Boris Roessler/dpa

Reich citizen scene: 25 arrests in a nationwide raid

First report from December 7th

: Berlin - In a nationwide raid early Wednesday (December 7th) 25 suspected members and supporters of a terrorist organization were arrested.

This was announced by the Attorney General and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP).

The network presumably comes from the Reich citizen milieu, explained Buschmann.

Raid against Reich citizens: Suspected planned coup d'etat - Bundeswehr members also targeted

Around 3,000 officials are deployed in eleven federal states, a spokeswoman for the Karlsruhe authority told the dpa news agency.

She accuses the accused of having prepared the overthrow of the state.

22 of those arrested are said to be members of a terrorist organization, two of them ringleaders.

Three others are considered supporters.

There are also 27 other suspects, said the spokeswoman.

The investigations are also aimed at a soldier from the Bundeswehr Special Forces Command (KSK) and several Bundeswehr reservists.

The active soldier was deployed on the KSK staff, said a spokesman for the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD).

According to information from the dpa, it is a non-commissioned officer.

Accordingly, his house and office in the Graf Zeppelin barracks in Calw (Baden-Württemberg) were searched.

Nationwide Reich citizen raid: Ex-AfD MPs under suspicion

According to information from NDR, WDR and 

, the suspicious group also includes a noble entrepreneur from Frankfurt and a former AfD member of the Bundestag, emphasized

from IPPEN.MEDIA.

According to the information, people were arrested in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Thuringia and one person each in Austria and Italy.

There were also searches in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.

The federal prosecutor's office wanted to start questioning the first arrested on Wednesday.