In one of the largest police operations conducted against extremist elements in Germany to date, some 3,000 officers on Wednesday morning carried out raids across eleven federal states, as well as Austria and Italy, searching nearly 150 residences and arresting at least 25 people who are believed to have been plotting a coup.
Among those arrested included members of the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, a group of some 21,000 individuals who regard Germany’s modern liberal democracy as illegitimate and refuse to recognize it. Prosecutors say all of those who were arrested during Wednesday’s sweeps have German citizenship, with the exception of one woman who is a Russian passport-holder, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
Federal prosecutors have named Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuss of Greiz, a Hessian entrepreneur who comes from an old aristocratic family, and a man named Rüdiger von P., who allegedly led the group’s military wing, as ringleaders.
President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Thomas Haldenwang told the German press that security services had been aware for some time that Reichsbürger members were planning a coup. He added that security services had been surveilling the group since the spring of this year, and had a clear overview of their plans and advancements. Haldenwang, while speaking to the broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, said that over time the group’s plans had become increasingly concrete, noting that weapons had been procured.
“The German security authorities as a whole had the situation under control at all times. But if it had been up to this group, then the danger was quite real,” the intelligence chief said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) lauded the operation. His spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said that those who had been arrested during the raids—whom he described as “highly dangerous”—had planned an armed attack on the Bundestag parliament building.
“We do not tolerate terrorism,” he said.
Also commenting on the arrests, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), who has previously written for an Antifa magazine managed by an organization with links to far-Left extremism, said: “The investigations allow us to look into the abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reich citizen milieu.”
Since assuming her role as federal interior minister last winter, Nancy Faeser, who appears to see herself as a kind of left-wing activist, has claimed—without citing figures to support her claim—that right-wing extremists represent the largest threat to Germany. She often conflates conservatives, right-wing populists, and anti-globalists with those in the violent extremist milieu, perhaps because it’s politically expedient for her to do so.
Earlier this year, Thorstein Frei, the first parliamentary secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, accused Faeser of exaggerating the threat from the Right while underestimating threats from the Left and Islamists.
“It is high time Minister Faeser takes off her ideological glasses and faces the challenges across the board,” Frei said, adding: “As right as it is to step up the fight against right-wing extremism, it is just as wrong not to take just as seriously the threats from left-wing extremism, fanatical Islamism, and anti-state efforts that fall outside of the previous patterns.”
Frei also referred to official statistics from Faeser’s ministry: “In any case, the statistics from the ministry speak a clear language,” he said.
In its latest report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) registered 34,700 left-wing and 33,900 right-wing extremists. Most acts of violence last year were carried out by left-wing extremists (987), followed by right-wing extremists (945), foreign extremists (116), and religiously motivated criminals (49).
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) was also pleased with the operation’s results
“A successful blow against the anti-constitutional, democracy-destroying, and right-wing extremist Reichsbürger scene in Germany and Austria. The police authorities have once again worked together efficiently, purposefully, and successfully for the safety of the people,” a statement from the Interior Ministry read.
